Legends of Chaos: Chaos Pawn of the Gremory
by ZuttoAragi
Summary: Kazuma Soryu is a seemingly normal high school student, until the day his apartment is attacked and destroyed by a monster, his home, and life, are invaded by a person claiming to be a Soul Reaper, and then later finds himself embroiled in the conflicts of the angels, fallen angels, and devils, again. Though Kazuma spends a lot of effort trying to appear supposedly "normal."
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

**Hello people, yes, I know. Another new story. Sorry, this is another one of those things burning away at my brain pan so I haven't been able to do much else. But, now that I've gotten down on paper, yes I know it technically isn't but that's the phrase so be quiet, I can actually focus on my other stories, namely Wagtail Shinobi and Fairy Tail's Dragon God. At any rate this story is a High School DxD, Bleach, Sekirei, Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fairy Tail crossover. Although not all of those contribute a lot since Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist contribute mainly characters. This story also has Bakuto Masaki as its coauthor, so I'd like to thank him as I always do. Also, this story does use what is effectively an OC, Kazuma Soryu, who is actually a heavily modified version of the Protagonist from the game Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. The story will actually start off with the Agent of the Soul Reapers and Rescue Arc (not exactly the Rescue Rukia Arc since that part's been modified somewhat) before moving on to the first story arc of High School DxD. Right, I think that's everything, so be sure to leave a review on what you think of the story, hopefully you enjoy it but whatever.**

* * *

Three people found themselves in a bush on the edge of a large school. One was a short, bald, tanned, squinty-eyed young man.

The second was a young man with short black hair, squared-off glasses, and a weak frame.

The third was the strange one. A young man with a relatively strong build, just past shoulder-length, messy brown hair that almost reached his brown eyes, and wore the same school uniform as the other two, a white, button-down shirt with vertical black stripes, a black bowtie, a black blazer overtop with white trim, black pants, and brown shoes. He did not seem to fit with the other two, aside from the fact that all three were crouched down in a bush right next to dojo for the school's kendo club.

The bald student sniggered perversely as he peeped through the hole. "Oh man…this is so _awesome_!" he whispered excitedly.

The bespectacled student nodded in agreement as he looked through the peephole. "Right, good work Kazuma."

The now named Kazuma shrugged lightly. "Don't worry about it. I always have to help my fellow man, eh, Motohama, Matsuda?"

Matsuda, the bald-headed teen nodded happily as did Motohama, the bespectacled teen.

"Uhm…what are you doing?" a quiet female voice asked.

Motohama and Matsuda froze before all three stood up and turned around to see a teenage girl of average height with long, waist-length, burnt-orange hair in bangs tucked behind her ears with hairpins and a full, but parted, fringe over her forehead, brown eyes, with a generous bust, and wearing the school's female uniform, a black vest with white trim, which was left open under her chest, a white, button-down shirt with long sleeves and vertical black lines, a black bowtie, a short maroon skirt with white trim, long white stockings, and black shoes.

The two shorter of the group froze and gasped, "O-Orihime!?"

Kazuma merely waved to her plainly. "Yo. What's up Orihime?"

The orange-haired girl nodded puzzled. "What were you three doing here, anyway?"

Motohama and Matsuda mumbled excuses, Kazuma deftly answering, "They wanted to show me something interesting they saw here. Turns out it wasn't really that interesting," he lied.

Motohama and Matsuda gaped at their friend's betrayal, only to clam up when he flashed two books in his hands, green books with the words, "Make-Out Wonderland" written on the covers. The two boys nodded in swift agreement.

Orihime nodded in naïve understanding. "Oh, okay. Mind if I take a look?"

Again Matsuda and Motohama froze.

Kazuma waved a hand dismissively, "Don't bother, it really isn't anything all that great. Anyway, wanna head to the cafeteria? I think there should still be some meatbuns left."

Orihime nodded and left with Kazuma.

Motohama and Matsuda watched him leave depressed.

Matsuda moaned heavily. "Damn…I seriously think those two are datin'."

Motohama adjusted his glasses slightly. "Please, that's impossible."

"Yeah…you're probably right."

* * *

As Orihime and Kazuma walked away, Orihime asked, "So, have you heard about what's been happening recently?"

Kazuma looked at her plainly. "A lot of things have been happening."

Orihime puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. "No, no! I mean that big drug company. Medium, Brain, Inflation…something like that."

Kazuma sighed in exasperation. "Mid-Bio Informatics. Most people just call them MBI. Don't try to act smart, you don't do it well."

Orihime flailed her arms frustrated. "Hey! You big meanie! Whatever, hmph!" After a few seconds she then continued, "Anyway, I heard that Mobile-" Kazuma looking at her flatly caused her to reassess her train of thought, "MBI, has bought up all of the local pharmacies here. Pretty weird isn't it?"

Kazuma looked at her deadpan and then pointed nearby. "It's weird that the out-of-nowhere drug company with advanced tech and a friggin' doom fortress in the center of the city is buying out all the competition? I'd be more surprised if they did anything that doesn't look like it's straight out of Superman."

"Super…man…?"

Kazuma sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "American comic book, he's basically the west's version of Goku."

"Oh! I get it!"

After a few more seconds Kazuma stopped and rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

Orihime looked at him puzzled. "You okay Kazuma?"

Kazuma waved a hand at her. "Go on ahead, I've got a bit of a headache."

Orihime nodded and walked ahead.

After waiting for her to leave he turned to the side angrily. "Okay, is it really necessary for you to throw such a tantrum, Mavis?"

Soon the translucent figure of a floating, transparent, girl with a child-like build, very long, wavy, blonde hair that reached her feet, large, featureless green eyes, who wore a frilly, layered, pink robe with a red ribbon tied in a bow around her neck, three blue diamond patterns around the chest with two blue triangles above each diamond, the set outlined in hot pink, as well as wing-like adornments around her ears and small hoop-earrings appeared. She folded her arms in a huff. "I'm not having a tantrum."

"You've been shouting obscenities into my ear the whole time I've been walking with Orihime."

Mavis moaned angrily and then shouted in frustration, "You just always hang out with that bimbo so much!"

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. "I can't really be seen talking to you in public, now can I? They'd think I'm even more insane than they do now. I don't need 'voices in the head' added to the list of possible mental instabilities they label me with."

Mavis frowned in dissatisfaction and then sighed. "Fine. It just gets boring having to float around with nothing to do. Because the people of this era aren't used to seeing spirits I can't become corporeal, and spooking humans runs out of its appeal fast."

"You're twisted, you know that?"

"You create super special ramen with bug spit."

"…Touché…"

"Speaking of, don't you start working back at that restaurant next week?"

After sitting down and opening a package of crackers he had with him, Kazuma nodded in response. "I do. Why?"

"Just curious. Even though I know how you make that ramen I still love the taste of it."

Kazuma shrugged as he ate his snack. "Right…anyway…I guess I should go ahead and do more training after school's done today."

Mavis gaped at him. "Seriously? More training? When I gave you Naruto's notes on that stuff I didn't think you'd become as insane about it as he was."

Kazuma shrugged again as he continued eating. "Worked for him didn't it? Hell, I even have the same powerful monster sealed inside me thing going for me."

Mavis looked at him incredulously. "He's not a monster."

Kazuma ignored her while he finished the last of his meal. "Well, I suppose that should do it. If you haven't got anything else to say I'm going to get going."

Mavis sighed as Kazuma walked away.

As he did, someone patted him on the back.

Kazuma turned and saw a young man with spiky orange hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin in the Kuoh uniform, the blazer absent to reveal the white shirt to have long sleeves.

Kazuma blinked at the teen. "Oh, hey Ichigo."

Ichigo waved. "What's up Kazuma, I didn't see you at lunch today."

Kazuma shrugged. "I was busy with Matsuda and Motohama."

"You mean peeping?"

"And you care why?"

"I don't." Ichigo then turned and waved. "What's up Mavis?"

Mavis nodded to the bright-haired teen. "Hello Ichigo. It's still weird that you can see me."

Ichigo shrugged in response. "I've just been able to see spirits since I was a kid." He then turned to Kazuma, "So what are your plans for later today?"

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "You asking me out on a date?"

Ichigo kicked Kazuma in the face. "No way you idiot! Besides, I thought you were into chicks!"

Kazuma, easily ignoring the blow, answered, "I am. I was going to reject you if you were."

"Go to hell!" Ichigo shouted before kicking Kazuma into a wall.

* * *

The day was relatively uneventful after that particular moment, aside from the Perverted Trio lounging around the school grounds after classes during club activities.

They found themselves on a small patch of grass near the track field by the old school building on the property.

Matsuda sighed in frustration as he sat up and looked around. "You know, man…this sucks."

Kazuma glanced over at him curiously. "Oh, and why's that?"

Matsuda looked at him confused. "Come on dude, look at this. We came here to this school because it used to be all girls, right?"

Kazuma shrugged. "I kinda came here to get a good education but I suppose having some nice asses to look at while I work is always a plus."

"Isn't it?! Problem is we came to this school hopin' we'd get to tap some o' that ass. Instead we're sittin' here getting' blue-balled while that dick-bag gets aallll the pussy."

The person in question was a teenage boy with short, golden-blonde hair and grey eyes who was walking through the pathways of the school surrounded by several girls of the school.

Motohama nodded and adjusted his glasses. "Yuuto Kiba. The school's White Prince and greatest playboy. All the girls wanna lay him, all the guys wanna slay him."

Matsuda pumped a fist in the air. "True dat!"

As the entourage walked by, Yuuto glanced up at the three intensely and then frowned sadly before continuing to walk past.

Kazuma suddenly sat up and shivered heavily.

Matsuda looked at his friend confused. "Yo, you alright dude!?"

Kazuma took a moment and then sighed. "Damn…that felt _really_ creepy."

Motohama looked at him puzzled. "Have a messed up dream again?"

Kazuma knocked him on the head. "No you nitwit! I don't know what caused it!" Kazuma then sat back down and sighed, before glancing up at the nearby school building. He saw the visage of a person in the building and his eyes widened. '_Chiaki…?!_' He shook his head and then saw a young woman in her late teens with a buxom figure, light skin, long, crimson-red, waist-length hair with a single strand sticking up off her head, loose bangs covering her forehead and framing her face, blue-green eyes and wearing the female Kuoh uniform with a small cape added on that fastened in the front just above her ample bosom. He blinked in curiosity at the red-haired beauty before Matsuda and Motohama saw where he was looking.

"Wuh-hoah!" Matsuda exclaimed.

Motohama adjusted his glasses with a perverse grin. "That's Rias Gremory, one of Kuoh Academy's Two Great Ladies. Measurements are ninety-nine, fifty-eight, ninety."

Matsuda snickered to himself.

Kazuma narrowed his eyes as he watched the redhead turn away from the window. '_Why does she look like…?_'

Matsuda nudged Kazuma's shoulder. "Daaammm, amiright?"

Kazuma blinked as his mind rebooted and then nodded in agreement. "Y-yeah…right."

Motohama raised an eyebrow. "You alright man?"

Matsuda slapped Kazuma's back a few times. "Yeah, he's fine, just imagin' all the ways to tap that, right?!"

Kazuma nodded weakly before standing up. "If you don't mind, I need to get home."

"Later!"

* * *

As Kazuma walked back to his apartment building, Mavis floated silently behind him.

She noticed his far-gone expression puzzled. "You okay?"

Kazuma sighed and then shook his head. "No. Seeing that…Rias, girl, has drudged up some things I'd rather forget."

Mavis frowned sadly. "You mean the Tower of Amala?"

Kazuma nodded. "Yeah, it's been…what, three years since I woke up out of that forsaken place?"

Mavis looked up in thought. "I think it's been about three months and a week since the Tower of Amala exploded and you showed up near Shinto Teito. Hasn't it been a thousand years since you were sealed in there?"

"That's what I've heard. It's been a thousand years since that coward Forbesii Lucifer sealed me in that tower during the Great War. That bastard created me, killed my family, burned my home, and turned me into a half-devil. Then when I got too powerful he sealed me away."

Mavis sighed deeply. "Yeah. So have you remembered what woke you up from the seal to begin with?"

Kazuma shrugged. "No. Only thing I can remember is Tama telling me that she felt someone approaching and then I woke up on the beach."

Mavis nodded and the duo continued walking until they heard a strange sound nearby.

They stopped and listened for it again, _it_ turning out to be the meow of a lone cat.

Kazuma turned and saw a small, black cat with amber eyes sitting on the concrete path nearby, sitting silently with its tail swaying side to side slowly as it looked at him intently, releasing another light meow. Kazuma blinked and then walked over to the seemingly lost creature. "Hey there little guy…lost…?"

It mewed in return.

Kazuma reached out and scratched the little critter's chin, it stretching its neck and raising its head with a loud, ecstatic purr in glee.

Mavis giggled in amusement. "I think she likes you."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow as he scratched the feline's head. "She? How do you know it's a she?"

Mavis gave a playfully haughty smile, "Woman's intuition."

"In other words you pulled it out of your ass."

Mavis covered the area in question and shouted embarrassed, "_You_ shouldn't be talking about _my_ ass, perv!"

Kazuma ignored her and scratched the cat's chin, saying in a playful voice, "Mavis is being an idiot isn't she?"

"Hey! I'm right here!" she flailed at Kazuma, her arms passing through him.

Kazuma then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small packet of food he brought with him and set it on the ground.

The cat sniffed the food curiously and then began digging into it.

Mavis giggled happily. "She really seems to like it."

Kazuma nodded and then stood up and began to walk away, Mavis following behind.

The two then stopped when they heard a familiar sound, Kazuma feeling something small rubbing against his leg. He looked down and saw the cat looking up at him with content expression.

Kazuma blinked curiously, Mavis giggling amused. "You know, I think she likes you. You know you're not escaping this."

Kazuma sighed in resignation and knelt down, picking up the small feline. "Well…I guess it can't be avoided. So…what should I call you…?"

Mavis popped over, "I have a few ideas."

Kazuma remarked. "I'll call you Muffins."

Mavis face-faulted and even the cat looked at him in disbelief.

Kazuma smirked. "Muffins it is."

Mavis moaned, "You're an idiot…"

* * *

Kazuma, Mavis, and Muffins arrived at their shared apartment, a small home on the edge of the city, with a small entryway through the front entrance where Kazuma dropped his shoes, Mavis being a spirit and choosing to go barefoot, Muffins being a cat.

Through the secondary doorway from the entryway led to a large room with a bathroom door several feet from the entrance on the left side, a door to a moderately sized bedroom just beyond that, the back wall being a single large window overlooking the city, though a large flat screen TV with a multitude of electronics under it on the entertainment center blocked the view of the window, a wide couch sitting just opposite the television with four seats and being made of white fabric. On the right wall from the TV was a series of shelves which held books and pictures, most of them merely generic images Kazuma bought on Mavis' suggestion, with a glass wall dividing the rest of the right wall from the kitchen, which had a fridge right next to the wall, tall and robust, a two-rack oven and four-burner stove next to it, with a countertop extending across the rest of the wall with a two-bowl sink and a long series of cupboards, including one marked "Magatama," with a long, six-person table in the kitchen area as well.

Kazuma looked down at the purring form of Muffins and set her down softly. "Well, here we are."

The cat meowed happily as it wandered around.

Kazuma then sighed in annoyance. "Shit…"

Mavis looked at him confused. "What…?"

Kazuma rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I need to buy a litter box for her."

Mavis laughed weakly. "Shouldn't you have thought of that before?"

"Bite me. Hey, shouldn't you become corporeal now?"

Mavis raised both eyebrows and then nodded, setting down on the floor as energy flared around her from the feet up, her form becoming solid as it did. She took in a big breath and then sighed happily. "It's so much better to be solid."

As he gathered a small amount of food for Muffins he asked, "Then why don't you just attend the school?"

"Because…I've attended school twelve times in the past hundred years. I'm done."

Kazuma shrugged as he put a plate of food down and signaled Muffins over. "I'm pleased with it so far."

Mavis gave him a sly grin. "That's just so you can peep on naked girls."

"Guy's gotta have goals."

"The fact that you've garnered the title Black Prince while you're such an open pervert boggles my mind."

Kazuma smirked slyly. "Sometimes girls like a dirty boy."

Mavis shivered. "That was so creepy."

Kazuma then walked into his bedroom, with the door being in the left corner, a long, short dresser along the left wall with a closet door against the back left corner, the back wall holding his queen-sized bed with two lamps on either side situated upon nightstands, the rightmost wall holding a small, gray desk with a computer on top, with a several drawers in the desk and the computer's tower seated to the side on the floor, the wall against the door having a large wardrobe.

Kazuma made his way to the small dresser and pulled out a selection of clothing, pulling off his own to change, exposing his fit frame hidden by his clothing, along with a series of scars on his torso and back. Changing into a grey T-shirt and green shorts he left the room and saw Mavis sitting on the couch, playing with Muffins and watching a television show.

"Hey," Kazuma mentioned, getting Mavis' attention, "Want something for dinner?"

Mavis put a finger on her chin as she thought. "Yup, Ocean Breeze Ramen!"

Kazuma nodded in understanding. "I'll be having Sweet Heaven Ramen."

Mavis merely nodded as she turned to the TV, which is unfortunate as if she hadn't she would have seen Kazuma's twisted grin.

However, as he went over to begin cooking the ramen, he, and Mavis, turned when he thought he heard a strange sound. After deeming it nothing they both went about their business.

* * *

The strange sounds were heard by the two of them a few more times before Kazuma finished the ramen and provided Mavis her bowl while he sat down to eat his.

Mavis smiled and giggled happily at the food before noticing it looked strange. She blinked curiously and then raised an eyebrow. "Uhm…are you sure this is Ocean Breeze Ramen?"

Kazuma lazily ate his own food and took a moment to swallow before answering, "Of course it is."

Mavis narrowed her eyes incredulously and picked up her chopsticks, causing Kazuma's attention to snap to her, she then split her chopsticks, causing his eyes to narrow, and then picked up a helping of noodles, causing his food-filled mouth to curve into a grin.

However, moments before she was going to eat the food in question, their ears and senses were assaulted by an incredibly loud, bellowing, monstrous roar.

Mavis immediately dropped her chopsticks, and their contents, back into the bowl as both she and Kazuma covered their ears. "What is that!?" Mavis shouted in distress.

Kazuma winced at the incredibly loud bellow and forced out, "I…don't know…!"

Their answer was provided when the far wall from the door suddenly exploded as though something smashed through it.

"What the hell was that?!" Mavis shouted in shock.

Kazuma didn't wait for an answer and reached into his pocket, pulling out several long daggers, kunai. As he did, his eyes changed, his brown irises turning red with three black tomoe in each. He narrowed his eyes as he readied his weapons. "I don't know, but it's big."

The being in question then came into view, a large, amphibian like monster with its most distinctive feature not being its massive size or leathery body, but the paper-white skull with empty sockets, yellow eye-like structures being the only feature within the blackness.

Kazuma and Mavis stared wide-eyed at the beast.

Mavis trembled as she asked, "W-what is that…? I've never seen a creature like that, not even Zeref's creations churned out monsters like that."

Kazuma readied his weapons and tensed. "I don't know, but it looks pissed."

The monster sniffed around and then noticed Kazuma and Mavis. It then spoke. **"Heh, heh, look at this, a human and a spirit that have tasty smelling souls. Tonight is my night."**

Mavis backed up and raised her arms in front of her.

"I think not, Hollow," a new voice said.

Kazuma and Mavis turned to see a beautiful young woman with long, scarlet red hair that reached her waist and brown eyes who wore a white shitagi, a black kosode, a black hakama, a white belt, white socks, beige sandals, a katana sheathed at her left side, and a small arm band on her left arm with a symbol on it.

Mavis' eyes widened slightly. "Erza…?"

The woman, presumably named Erza, stared down the beast, a Hollow, angrily and unsheathed the sword at her side.

The creature narrowed its beady yellow eyes and chuckled. **"Ooh, and a Soul Reaper to boot, I'm so very LUCKY!"** It then charged at Erza, forcing Mavis and Kazuma to dive out of the way, before snapping at her, Erza dodging the attack.

"Hey!" Kazuma shouted to her.

Erza turned confused to him. "You…can see me…?"

"Of course I can! So mind explaining what the hell's going on here?!"

Erza opened her mouth to speak but the Hollow turned to lunge. Acting on instinct she grabbed Kazuma and jumped out the window, to his tenth floor apartment. She looked down at the ground and froze. "Ah…I didn't think this through very well…"

Kazuma looked at her deadpan. "I coulda told you that, dummy."

The duo then plummeted to the ground at high speeds. However, at the last second, Kazuma held Erza close to him and put his hands together in a series of symbols.

Her eyes widened when she saw that. '_He knows…ninjutsu…?!_'

Kazuma took a deep breath and then exhaled a small burst of air as he exclaimed, "Wind Style: Air Bullet!"

The downwards burst of air managed to break his and Erza's fall just enough to leave them with minor injuries.

Kazuma grunted as he stood up, Erza looking at him puzzled.

"How…?" she asked.

Kazuma groaned and looked at her. "How, what?"

She looked at him sternly, pointing the tip of her blade at him. "How do you know ninjutsu?"

Kazuma narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

However, before their conversation could continue the Hollow jumped down to the ground beside them.

Erza snarled and pushed Kazuma behind her. "Stay behind me, you may have some form of combat ability, but I doubt it's enough to slay a Hollow."

Kazuma looked at her annoyed. He then noticed Mavis approaching nearby, the Hollow turning to get her.

"Mavis!" Kazuma and Erza shouted in unison.

Mavis gulped as the monster got close to her swiftly.

Kazuma himself acted on instinct again and threw a series of shuriken at the beast, the bladed discs merely imbedding in its skull and annoying the creature.

**"You're pretty persistent for a human. How about I fix that?"** The creature reared up its head and swung down to take a bite out of Kazuma.

He sneered and got ready to retaliate as the creature bit down, blood spraying over the area.

Kazuma's eyes widened in horror as he saw the creature with its jaw embedded in Erza's shoulder.

She turned to him strained and frustrated. "You fool, why didn't you move…?"

Kazuma snarled at her in frustration. "Because I can handle myself!"

Erza then used some of the strength she had and sliced vertically, causing the Hollow to toss her against a nearby wall as it shrunk back with a gash in its skull. "Damn…" Erza swore in frustration.

Kazuma growled and then went over to her. "You alright?!"

Erza looked at him flatly. "Do I look alright to you?"

Kazuma sweat-dropped. "Fair point…"

"At any rate, that Hollow did more damage than I expected, I'm not in a position to take it down. I'd normally just retreat to heal up…"

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "So? Then go."

Erza frowned at him. "And leave you and Mavis here to be eaten by that creature?!"

Kazuma sneered in annoyance. "I'm not as weak as I look, and I'm not sure if you know but Mavis is more than capable of handling herself, even if she is an idiot."

"I'm right here you know!"

Erza sighed and then asked, "Why did you step in to help like that?"

Kazuma turned to her and shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? Mavis is a friend of mine and you're obviously a little in over your head. I couldn't call myself a hot-blooded man if I just stood around while you two got the stuffing beat out of you."

Erza looked at Kazuma surprised and confused. '_He's…just like…_' She then sighed as she noticed the Hollow beginning to regain its senses. She turned to Kazuma. "Listen, if you really want to help me, then there's something you need to do."

Kazuma turned and knelt down, nodding in understanding.

"It's an extreme measure for only the most dire situations but…I'll lend you enough of my power to beat this Hollow. Normally I'd be able to do it myself, but…" she winced as the pain from her injury made itself known.

Kazuma nodded in acceptance. "What do I need to do?"

"You have to…thrust my Zanpakuto through your chest…"

Kazuma blinked in disbelief. "You…you're kidding right…?"

Erza groaned in frustration. "I don't have time for jokes!"

Kazuma gulped and picked up her sword. "Well…here goes nothin'…" He then grabbed her sword by the blade and thrust it straight through his chest.

The Hollow shook its head and then looked around, seeing the area in front of him filled with smoke. **"Heh, heh, tryin' to hide in the smoke, eh? Well it won't work-huh?"**

As the smoke cleared, Kazuma stood in the center of it, a similar outfit Erza's own adorning his body, a sword in his hands, perched on his shoulder. A massive sword the length of his body three times the width of a normal katana.

Erza's eyes widened before she looked down at herself. Her black outfit had vanished, leaving only the white clothing underneath. She flexed her hands and murmured, "My powers…he took…almost all of them."

Kazuma flexed his shoulders and his neck, before smirking proudly as his body and clothing began to shuffle. "Wow…haven't felt this good in a long time." As he said that, his red eyes shifted, the three tomoe adjoining in the center into a three-pointed pinwheel before three more points extended outwards.

Erza's eyes widened further. "M-Mangekyo…Sharingan…but how? The Uchiha were supposed…to have died out…"

Kazuma grinned as he crouched down to fight the Hollow.

Erza then made another observation. '_His stance…the way he holds that massive Zanpakuto…he…he looks like he knows what he's doing…_'

The Hollow sneered and lunged for Kazuma, Kazuma hopping into the air and landing on its arm, twisting his torso around and slicing behind him, cutting off the monster's hand.

The beast howled in pain as it grabbed at the bloody stump. **"You shitstain! You'll pay for this!"**

Kazuma's grin merely widened. "The hell I will asshole!"

The creature swiped at him with its good hand, Kazuma jumping in the air again. His left eye then widened, blood seeping out. "Amaterasu!"

The beast's right arm was then engulfed in thick black flames, burning through it. The beast hobbled backwards as it stared angrily at Kazuma. **"What…are you…?"**

Kazuma merely smirked. "Nothing more than a high school student." He then reared back his arm with the sword and then swung it forward, the sword spinning through the air like a giant shuriken, lopping the Hollow's head off before returning to Kazuma, whom caught the spinning blade effortlessly and rested it on his shoulder as the Hollow fell over and dissolved.

Erza could only watch surprised. She then turned to Kazuma as he walked over to her. "You…you're not…a normal human…are you…?"

Kazuma shrugged. "If you wanna see it that way."

* * *

Kazuma, Mavis, and Erza sat in the kitchen of Kazuma's apartment talking.

Kazuma rest his head on his fist and sighed. He then asked, "So let me get this straight, you are a Soul Reaper, which is basically like a Grim Reaper except you hunt monsters?"

Erza nodded. "Yes."

"And that thing was a monster called a Hollow, which is a human spirit that has become feral?"

"Correct."

"And you work for this place called the Soul Society who governs the world of the dead?"

"Yes."

"And to beat that thing I took part of your power as a Soul Reaper and became a Soul Reaper myself?"

Erza shook her head. "No, not exactly. I had originally intended to give you half of my power, but you somehow took almost eighty percent of it."

Kazuma sighed heavily as he laid his down on the table.

Erza sat silently.

Kazuma then swiftly raised his head and shouted, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

Erza's expression remained placid, however she had a noticeable twitch in her eyebrow.

Kazuma then sighed in exasperation and looked to the side annoyed. "Although considering my own situation…I guess I can't complain."

Erza tilted her head in confusion. "Your situation?"

Kazuma shook his head. "It's complicated. If you don't mind, I'd rather keep that to myself."

Erza narrowed her eyes suspiciously but accepted it.

Kazuma shrugged and then asked, "So, when will you go back to this Soul Society?"

Erza sighed in exasperation. "Unfortunately I cannot for now."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "Oh…? Why not?"

"Because, I had only intended to give you a fraction of my power, but you took a large portion of my powers, leaving me with only enough to exist in this world. And as such, I don't have enough power to return to the Soul Society."

Kazuma played with Muffins, who was sitting on the chair next to him, and remarked, "Well, that must stink. So what will you do now?"

"Live here, naturally."

Kazuma immediately froze, Muffins being off-balance from his sudden stop and falling on the floor below. "What?! Here!? Why!?"

Erza folded her arms and answered matter-of-factly, "Simple. You took my powers, I can't go back until they replenish, so in the meantime you will need to take over my duties as a Soul Reaper."

Kazuma stood up in protest. "Screw that!"

Erza narrowed her eyes angrily, causing Kazuma to shrink back some. "You don't have a choice. _You_ are the one that took my powers, so until they return it's only right that _you_ take over the tasks _I_ would normally be doing."

Kazuma nodded weakly. "Y-yes ma'am."

Mavis could only giggle in amusement. "You're still as strict as ever, Erza."

Kazuma blinked in confusion. "You two…know each other?"

Erza nodded in the affirmative. "It's a long story, but several thousand years ago I was part of an organization that Mavis established."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "So…does that mean you know this Naruto guy Mavis keeps mentioning?"

Mavis froze stock-still and Erza's expression darkened.

Erza nodded slowly. "Yes…he was…my husband. He entered the Soul Society around the same time I did, joining the Soul Reapers only a few decades after that. And then…almost a thousand years ago…he died…permanently…"

Kazuma frowned with a self-abashing expression. "Ah…sorry…I didn't mean to…"

Erza shook her head with a weak smile. "No, it's quite alright. You had no way of knowing, since Mavis didn't tell you."

Mavis laughed weakly. "Sorry 'bout that."

Kazuma sighed and then looked to the side. "That does leave one issue…"

Erza looked at him puzzled and then turned to see where he was looking and remembered the destruction of Kazuma's apartment. "Oh…I'll see about…handling it…"

Kazuma looked at her incredulously. "Right…just try not to screw up my life anymore than you already have please."

Erza huffed in annoyance.

* * *

The next morning Kazuma noticed that his house was still wrecked and made his way to the school, noting that Erza seemed to have vanished. That made him think that last night was a high from bad ramen, until he noticed the hole in the wall and went on his way.

* * *

Of course he decided not to tell his friends and classmates about the event, for obvious reasons.

The day began normally enough, until the homeroom teacher introduced the class' new member.

The teacher motioned to the door as a person walked in and announced, "Class, I'd like you to meet our new transfer student, Erza Scarlet."

Kazuma saw this and began choking on the drink he snuck into class.

The teacher narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "This is why I tell you no drinks."

Kazuma could only look in surprise and confusion as Erza walked towards his area of the class near the back.

Motohama and Matsuda perched themselves over his shoulders. "Whoa…" Matsuda gasped, "the school now has two redheaded hotties."

As she approached the group she stuck out her hand with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Please take care of me during the year."

"Yes ma'am!" Matsuda and Motohama cheered.

However, Kazuma looked down and noticed writing on her hand which read, "Say a word and die." Kazuma only twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

As Erza turned and walked towards her seat nearby, the collective male class eying her lecherously, Motohama adjusted his glasses and gaped.

"So!? So!?" Matsuda urged.

Motohama snickered quietly and laughed maniacally.

"What's gotten into you?" Kazuma asked.

Motohama turned to Kazuma confidently. "You'll never believe it. We now have the second best girl in the school."

Kazuma looked out the window bored. "Oh? And how's that?"

"101, 57, 93."

Kazuma's concentration was broken by the measurements, causing him to accidently slam his head into his desk. He then looked at Motohama in disbelief. "Y-you gotta…be kiddin' me…"

Motohama adjusted his glasses proudly. "I. Am. Not."

Kazuma merely sighed. "Well…this made things weirder…"

"Why's that?"

Kazuma gulped. "Ah…well…nevermind…"

Motohama narrowed his eyes behind his glasses but before he could garner any more information out of his friend the school's starting bell rang.

* * *

After the first few classes, where Erza displayed her obvious lack of social experience, Kazuma made his way out of the school building to go to the roof of the old building to have lunch with his friends. However, on the way he was grabbed by the shoulder and pulled into one of the small pathways between the main school buildings.

"Eh…?" he mumbled in confusion before seeing Erza standing in front of him. He blinked puzzled before flattening into an annoyed frown. "Need something?"

Erza nodded in the affirmative. "Yes, it's time for your first mission as a Soul Reaper."

Kazuma sighed and looked at her disgruntled. "I already told you I have no interest in this Soul Reaper crap."

Erza narrowed her eyes and slipped on a red glove with the image of a skull surrounded by black flames onto her left hand. She then lunged forward.

"Huh!?" Kazuma grumbled in shock and anger, before Erza's hand slammed into his face, and then through his face.

Kazuma stood, wearing the Soul Reaper garb and having the large Zanpakuto on his back, and looked around, before seeing his body lying on the ground. "Hey! That the hell just happened?!"

Erza stowed the glove in her uniform's pocket and answered, "I removed your soul from your body so that you are in Soul Reaper form."

"Hey! Cut that out!" Kazuma shouted as Mavis poked him. "Wait…why are you in your solid form?!"

Mavis shook her head. "I'm not."

Kazuma blinked and then looked down. "What the hell happened to my body?!"

"Don't you listen?" Erza asked exasperated. She then bent down and moved his now soulless body to a nearby corner.

"What're you doing…?"

"I'm placing your body so that it looks like you're sleeping."

"That's no good! With my body like that people will think I'm dead!"

As the two talked Mavis got a playful grin and floated over to Kazuma's body.

"Well maybe you should warn a man before you do that!"

"And you should be more aware of your situation!"

"Hey," Kazuma said. Or rather, his body did.

Both Erza and Kazuma looked at his now moving body.

Erza blinked in confusion. "Err…how many souls are in your body exactly?"

Kazuma looked at her annoyed. "Just one, mine nitwit."

Erza glared at him with a tic mark.

"It's me, silly," Kazuma's body said.

Erza and Kazuma blinked in confusion before gasping in surprise. "Mavis!?"

Mavis, who had possessed Kazuma's empty body, nodded. "Yup. This way it looks like you're still here."

Erza nodded happily. "Yes, that's a wonderful idea. Your body can move around like normal, and I don't need to waste the money on a Soul Candy."

Kazuma blinked in confusion. "Soul Candy?"

"Not important now."

Kazuma sighed and then looked at Mavis, in his body. He then noticed her playful grin. He sneered. "Hey, don't get any funny ideas."

"I think that's enough," Erza remarked sharply as she grabbed Kazuma's arm and tugged him away, "It's time to go."

Mavis waved to him as they left, Kazuma shouting in protest. "Hey! Stop! Mavis, don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Mavis grinned darkly as she turned around towards the school.

* * *

Erza continued to drag Kazuma by the arm for quite a ways before she stopped and he wrenched himself free. "Let go o' me!"

Erza observed a cellphone she carried with her and nodded. "This should be good."

Kazuma folded his arms disgruntled and asked, "What's far enough?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a familiar howl, the howl of a Hollow.

Kazuma turned to the side as he saw a young boy being chased by a giant, purple, centipede-like Hollow, barreling through a park to get him.

"Help! Help me!" the boy cried.

"Damn!" Kazuma cursed as he reached for his sword.

However, before he could move, "Stop!" Erza shouted and grabbed his arm.

"Hey! Let go dammit!"

Erza gave him a stern look. "I won't. You said you want no part in the role of a Soul Reaper, if that's true, then you won't save that Plus."

Kazuma's eyes widened and then narrowed. "Why you…you brought me here to force my hand, didn't you?!"

Erza nodded plainly. "Exactly. If you're serious about this, then this will prove your words."

Kazuma grit his teeth as the young Plus was chased by the large Hollow. He snarled and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, his body becoming intangible, causing Erza's hand to pass through it.

Her eyes widened at the move. '_Kamui!_'

"Screw this!" Kazuma shouted. "There's no way in hell I'm just gunna stand around and let someone get hurt or killed if there's something I can do to stop it!"

Erza's eyes widened further, as a second voice played in her mind as Kazuma spoke.

He pointed a finger towards her and declared, "Because that's just who I am!"

Erza's eyes welled up slightly as the visage of a man with spiked hair seemed to appear behind Kazuma. '_Are…are you…?_'

Kazuma then wasted no time unsheathing his Zanpakuto and charging for the monster.

It curled back its body and lunged at the defenseless spirit.

"Nooo!" the boy shouted in fear.

Kazuma stood in between the boy and the Hollow, its maw biting down on the sword instead. "Haaahh, screw you!" He sliced downward, sending the Hollow rearing up in pain at the large gash in its face.

**"You bastard!"** the monster shouted in agony. It curled back and lunged at Kazuma.

He dove to the side, the beast turning to face him. He raised his sword up with one hand and thought, '_I can feel it. Now, I am able to freely manipulate mana, which means…_' He then swung his sword down in a powerful arc and shouted, "Demon Fang!" A blue wave of energy shot from the tip of his blade and careened for the Hollow, slicing through its body easily.

The monster howled in pain again as its body was cleaved in half. **"Graagghh!"**

Erza was still frozen in shock with the skill and power this supposed "Substitute Soul Reaper" wielded the sword and magical powers like it was second nature.

The now substantially smaller Hollow used the last of its remaining body to lunge for Kazuma.

He brought the sword close to him and rushed up under the Hollow's neck, and swung in an upward arc, shouting, "Take this!" The Hollow's head was cleaved off with a powerful swing as Kazuma rose up, the dead monster's body falling and dissolving as it fell.

Kazuma landed lightly on the ground as Erza walked up to him. She then asked, "So,  
are you ready to commit to being a Soul Reaper?"

Kazuma stowed his sword and sneered at her. "Not a chance."

"What?!"

"I didn't do what I did just now because it's my job or I'm supposed to, I did it because it's the right thing to do. You can call me scum for breaking your rules like this, but I'd be even worse than scum if I just stood by and let that child get eaten by that thing."

Erza felt her heart momentarily stop at his words but shook her head free of the confusion.

"Besides," Erza looked at him intrigued as he finished, "when you stepped in front of that thing to help me, you didn't need to, you didn't have to, you wanted to. That's exactly what I did, and I'll be damned before I let rules like that dictate what I do."

Erza sighed and put a hand on her face as she shook her head. "You…you're just like him."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "Like who?"

"Don't worry about it, for now. So, that's your answer then?"

Kazuma shrugged in response. "Pretty much."

"I suppose there's no way around it then. But this means you _will_ be helping me with this job, understand?"

Kazuma sighed and then turned to the child cowering nearby after the battle. "…Right…if all these situations are like this, then I can't just stand around. I'll help you, for now."

Erza smirked happily. "Good to hear. All that's left now is the Konso."

Kazuma blinked befuddled. "K-Konso…?"

Erza nodded as she walked over to the soul of the child nearby, the boy shrinking away in fear. "Yes, the Konso is the ritual that is used, to send Pluses like this one, to the Soul Society, so that they do not linger here."

Kazuma nodded as he walked up and Erza explained it, before pulling out his Zanpakuto and tapping the child on the forehead with butt of the sword, a circle of light appearing under him as he vanished into it. Kazuma then scratched his cheek and asked, "So…we done?"

"I suppose, why?"

"'Cuz I'd like to get back to see what kind of devastation Mavis has caused."

Erza merely raised an eyebrow.

* * *

Upon returning, to Kazuma's surprise, Mavis had not done much of anything, aside from use her own form of magic to prank Matsuda and Motohama, an act Kazuma was not too broken up about.

After reentering his body Kazuma informed Erza and Mavis of his plans to take care of some shopping before returning home.

The two women accepted and returned to the apartment without him.

* * *

Kazuma made a short shopping trip that lasted from dusk to nightfall, rain having started to fall as he did.

"Aagghh, shit! Where'd this crap come from!?" he shouted frustrated as he ran with a magazine barely covering his head.

He stopped as he passed a small alleyway however. He took a few steps back and saw a woman with long purple hair that reached just below her waist, tied in a wide ponytail with a pink ribbon, matching violet eyes, a bust to rival Rias' and wearing a short, purple, Chinese dress with a wide, open section in the middle that showed off much of her cleavage and her navel, with long sleeves with slits up the sides. He also noticed she was holding a seemingly empty sake bottle.

Kazuma looked at the woman conflicted until he heard her moan and seem to stir awake, she turned to him drunkenly and smiled sloppily. "My, aren't you a cutie…" She stood up shakily and unsteady and hobbled over to Kazuma, supporting herself on his shoulders.

Kazuma backed up some and covered his nose. "Agh, geez lady, you reek of alcohol!"

The woman frowned at him disappointed. "That's not something you say to a lady."

"It is when they're shitfaced!" He then reached around her waist when she began to stumble over.

The woman looked at him surprised and smiled again. "You're rather helpful…"

Kazuma sighed in defeat and looked her in the eye. "I can't just let you stay out here, you'll catch a cold, if that's the worst that happens to you."

Her eyes widened more alertly as he spoke. "Oh…?"

Kazuma looked around and then groaned in annoyance. "Ahh, come on! Isn't there a hospital around here?"

She turned to him puzzled. "Hospital? Fufu, why not just take me to your place?"

He looked at her sternly. "Because there are simply too many ways that can go wrong. I don't like taking advantage of people who are in a weakened state of any kind."

The flush on the woman's face increased slightly as he spoke, however she seemed to manually force it back down.

Kazuma groaned again and then saw the telltale signs of a nearby hospital and sighed in relief. "Good, hey, think you can stay conscious long enough for me to get you there…oh…nevermind…"

The woman had already passed out on his shoulders.

Sighing in frustration he set her down and pulled out a small book from his pocket and flipped to a specific page and swiped his finger down it, another book appearing in a burst of smoke. He then turned the book towards his now sopping groceries, revealing a complex design on the page, and swiped his finger across it, the bags bursting into smoke and getting sucked inside the page.

After putting the books away he picked up the woman princess style, one arm under her knees and the other arm supporting her head and neck against his torso, and proceeded to carry her to the hospital nearby.

* * *

Upon walking inside the nurse at the desk noticed his and her sopping wet condition and asked hurriedly, "Is she alright?!"

Kazuma nodded slowly. "Yes, yes. She's just drunk. Think you could spare a bed for her overnight?"

The nurse looked at him confused and tilted her head. "Couldn't you just take her home?"

Kazuma laughed uncomfortably. "I actually have no idea who she is. I just saw her lying on the ground drunk and passed out and couldn't stand to let her just lie there."

The nurse looked at Kazuma surprised and then nodded with a smile. "Of course, sir, right this way."

After setting the woman's wet form down, Kazuma wiped some of the water from his forehead.

"You know," the nurse began, "she'll probably want to know how she ended up here. What do you want me to tell her?"

Kazuma looked up in thought and then answered with a playful smile, "Her guardian angel."

The nurse looked at him confused and then laughed loudly, catching herself and blushing embarrassedly. "Ah, right…I can do that."

Kazuma nodded and then raised an eyebrow and reached into his pocket and pulled out the same book.

The nurse looked at it puzzled and asked, "What are you doing?"

Kazuma nodded as he felt around in his pockets. "Just going to leave something for her, grr, excuse me, do you have a pen I can borrow?"

The nurse nodded and handed him a pen from her pocket. "Just bring it to the desk when you're finished."

Kazuma nodded in understanding as he wrote on a piece of paper. He then waited for the nurse to leave and swiped his finger across one of the complex seals, a burst of smoke appearing and a bowl of ramen with the label, "Sweet Heaven Ramen" on the top. He placed down the ramen and the piece paper which had written on it, "Eat this, it'll help with the hangover." He then left the room and the hospital.

* * *

At that same moment, elsewhere in the city, Orihime sat in her room with a friend of hers, Tatsuki Arisawa, who was a girl Orihime's age with short, spiky black hair, blue eyes, and a simple casual outfit.

The two were merely playing games and talking as they ate, however, outside the window to Orihime's room, the spirit of a young man with shoulder-length brown hair, grey eyes, and a business suit floated outside her window with a frown.

As he floated there, several dark figures appeared around him, and then grabbed him, pulling him down into a dark hole in the ground.

* * *

The spirit then found himself in a strange place resembling a desert with tall rock spires and a bright sun.

A large, black creature with narrow red eyes then appeared in front of him and waved a thin hand, multiple black forms converging on him.

* * *

Kazuma finally managed to arrive home later that night, and came home to a rather bizarre sight. It seemed he had never cleaned up the ramen he left from before the Hollow attack.

Muffins had attempted to eat it, seeming to succeed somewhat, but found herself unconscious on the floor with the bowl and its contents strewn across the hardwood.

Kazuma pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and sighed, picking up the unconscious cat and gently laying her down on the couch before going into his utility closet and pulling out a mop.

* * *

After cleaning up the mess left by the overambitious cat he put away the mop and sighed in annoyance. It was then he noticed something strange. On both sides of his room, at the corners, there were hallways that seemed to lead to the next rooms. He looked from side to side puzzled and raised an eyebrow. "Were these…always here?"

Curiously he walked down the left hallway and found himself in, as he expected, the apartment next to his. However, it had been completely renovated. The room at the back of the room was still present but the bathroom was gone, replaced by another bedroom, and the space around the edges where that room's living room, kitchen, and dining room had been had also been filled in and turned into three more rooms, giving a now total of six rooms.

He then flinched and ran across the room, down the hallway, across his apartment, down the other hallway and found the exact same situation. It had been linked up to the next apartment with the bathroom, living room, kitchen, and dining room all altered and filled in to create more bedrooms, giving him a total of eleven.

In confusion and anger he shouted, "What the hell's going on here!?"

A familiar woman's voice chimed in plainly, "You really shouldn't yell like that, you'll disturb the neighbors."

Kazuma ran over and pointed at her accusingly. "You…! You did this didn't you?"

Erza tilted her head and then looked around, realizing what he meant. "Oh, you mean adding more rooms to your apartment, I was partially responsible."

"What the hell!? I thought I told you _not_ to interfere with my life anymore than you had already! And now you kick out the tenants in the rooms next to mine and renovate their apartments?! That's the exact opposite of not interfering! That is…mega-interfering!"

Erza blinked incredulously. "Mega…?"

"Oh bite me!"

Kazuma then immediately stomped off to his own room and slammed the door.

Erza frowned in confusion. "He seems angry."

Mavis sweat-dropped. "Even after four thousand years you're still socially inept…aren't you?"

"Hmm?"

* * *

The next day, Kazuma stirred awake slowly and noticed his arms felt unusually heavy. '_Did I…was that woman heavier than she looked…? With those massive tits I wouldn't be surprised. Wait a sec…_' As he came to he realized that there was actually something weighing down both arms.

After managing to wrestle the blanket far enough away to see what the objects were he paled.

On his left side, hugging right up against him, was Mavis in her corporeal form; that, however, was not too strange as it was something that had become routine.

It was what was hanging off his right side that gave him pause for thought. Erza had somehow ended up there, for some reason wrapped around his arm, it being sandwiched between her plentiful bosom.

Kazuma paled and began to sweat heavily. Even without her powers, Erza could be a scary woman, and if she were to wake up to this situation, he doubted he would make the day.

Fortunately he remembered how he could use Kamui and managed to phase through both girls, neither waking up, and make his way out of the room to prepare breakfast.

* * *

Said meal was a quiet affair, Erza never once mentioning the matter of her waking up in Kazuma's bed. Something the brunette found infinitely frustrating but managed to subdue.

As they ate, Mavis inquired about Erza's corporeal body.

"Gigai? I've never heard of it."

Erza nodded. "Yes, a gigai is an artificial body that the Soul Society provides so that spirits can exist and interact with the material world."

Mavis' eyes lit up. "That's really cool. Think you'd be able to acquire one for me?"

Erza looked up in thought. "Erm…possibly."

Mavis snickered happily.

* * *

After finishing breakfast, Kazuma stretched and made his way towards the door. "Well, I'm off."

Mavis waved to him. "Buh-bye!"

Erza blinked in confusion. "But…I though we don't have school today."

Kazuma nodded in affirmation. "We don't, but I have a part time job. I normally work there a few hours a day after school but with all the stuff going on recently at school I was given a couple weeks off. To make up for that I'll be doing a full day today."

Erza looked at him slightly puzzled. "I see…does that explain the suit?"

Kazuma nodded and then got an idea. "You could come visit if you like, there's really good ramen."

Erza nodded in agreement and got up, following him out the door.

Mavis didn't like being alone so she followed behind them, invisible to most naturally.

* * *

Eventually the trio arrived at a small restaurant on the opposite end of the city from Kuoh named, "Ichiraku's."

Erza looked at the restaurant thoroughly puzzled.

Mavis tapped her shoulder to get her attention. "It's actually run by Ayame's reincarnation, or at least a woman who looks just like her and has her name."

Kazuma overheard Mavis explaining that but decided to ignore and entered the restaurant through the door.

As he did two voices announced, "Welcome to Ichiraku's-Kazuma!" The surprised voices belonged to two young women, both with tall, slender builds and long black hair that spread out in wing-like shapes, with hazel eyes. Both also wore matching maid outfits for the restaurant, one girl wore pink and one wore purple, there was also one other difference between them, the girl in purple had a significantly larger bust than her twin.

Kazuma waved to the girls as they realized it was him. "Yo, Hibiki, Hikari. How's it goin'?"

The two girls walked up to him frantically. Hibiki, the woman in pink with the more average sized bust, sighed and looked at him thankfully. "I'm glad you're back, I can't tell you how many people have been requesting that ramen of yours, it's quite exhausting really."

Hikari, the woman in purple with the larger breasts, nodded in agreement, although she seemed far more agitated. "Yeah, idiots just couldn't realize that you weren't here. Think you could get back to it and shut a few of 'em up?"

Kazuma nodded with a light smirk. "Yup, I can do that. Let me go tell Ayame I'm here first and see if she needs me for anything first."

The two women nodded as he walked away. They then turned and saw Erza. "Who are you?" they asked in unison.

Erza blinked in thought. "My name is Erza Scarlet, I'm a student from Kazuma's school."

The twin looked at her puzzled, then looked at each other and huddled together a few feet away.

"She said she's from his school," Hikari remarked confused.

"Yeah, I thought he said he didn't want anyone from Kuoh discovering that he works here or what he does," Hibiki added in slight bewilderment.

"So why'd he bring her?"

"No clue. Think she's blackmailing him?"

Erza scowled and grumbled, "I'm right here you know."

Both women froze and began to sweat, then turned with inviting smiles.

"Sorry about that," Hikari mentioned uncomfortably.

"Y-yeah, we were just…confused about something…" Hibiki excused weakly.

Erza grumbled quietly with her arms folded.

At that moment Kazuma walked out of the back office and scratched his head in annoyance.

The twins looked at him curiously.

"What's up?" Hikari asked.

Sighing, Kazuma responded, "She doesn't want me getting back to cooking just yet, she says my absence lost her a lot of customers, so it's my job to try and replenish them. Man, I hate handing out those damn fliers."

Hikari laughed weakly. "Yeah…sorry. Well, here, guess you should get busy, huh?" She then handed him a stack of fliers.

He groaned and walked out the door. "This sucks."

* * *

It was as he handed out the fliers and began acquiring new future customers for Ichiraku that Erza saw a completely different side of Kazuma.

Kazuma stood against the wall with the stack of fliers in his hand when two women walked down the street talking. Seeing them he walked out a little bit and then waved lightly to get their attention.

They stopped to see what he needed. "Yes?" the brunette woman asked.

Kazuma pulled out two fliers and handed them to the women with a smile. "My boss is punishing me for being gone for a while so she's having me do this grunt labor. It would really help me get out of this heat if you two lovely ladies would stop by the restaurant some time."

The women looked at him curiously and then to the flier.

The raven-haired woman raised an eyebrow and then asked, "You really make this ramen yourself?"

Kazuma nodded with a disarming smile. "Yeah, I do. I'd actually much rather be in there than out here, but my boss is such a slave driver I'm stuck out in this heat…"

The two women looked from him to the fliers and then nodded. "Yeah, sure," the brunette remarked, "we'll stop by some time."

Kazuma smiled widely and remarked, "Really? Thanks, that'd make me very happy." He then offered a sweet smile to the two women.

That seemed to kill it as the two turned bright red. "Ah, y-yeah, sure thing." They then walked by with light smiles of their own.

Kazuma merely smirked proudly as they walked on by.

Erza was in disbelief. "I…I don't believe it. At the school he's an unmotivated misanthrope, and yet at this job he seems capable of wooing just about anyone, aside from me obviously. Mavis, why is his personality so split?"

Mavis snickered amusedly. "Kazuma's personality is actually somewhere in between. He is in fact lazy and perverted, but then he's also able to charm just about any average woman. He actually told me once that the reason he chose for his school to be so far away from his job is _because_ of the women."

Erza blinked curiously and then stood up straight. "Oh? What do you mean?"

"With this restaurant being so far away from the rest of the city, specifically Kuoh Academy, it's almost guaranteed that he won't run into anyone he knows. Despite having the ability to, as you can see, charm most women, he finds it really taxing and prefers at Kuoh where the women want nothing to do with him and he doesn't need to keep up any persona of suave charm. Makes him wonder how Yuuto Kiba does it so well and so much. He figures the guy must have the mental stamina of a psychologist."

Erza looked at Mavis confused and then turned to continue watching Kazuma curiously. She frowned in confused thought as he continued to attract customers for the restaurant, many of whom entered the restaurant immediately. '_Just who are you…?_'

* * *

After a few more hours of working, the sun had passed its highest point and the owner of the restaurant had elected to shut it down for the day.

Kazuma sighed in relief and flopped down into one of the chairs. "Holy crap…I'm exhausted!" He then flopped forward and slammed his head down on the table. He felt a light sensation on the back of his head and turned slightly to see a small towel resting on his head. Sitting up he saw Hikari standing beside him. "Ah, hey."

Hikari nodded in return. "You looked pretty tired, I figured that'd help a little."

Kazuma eyed the towel lazily and pulled it down from atop his head, using it to wipe the sweat from his neck and face. With a sigh of relief he nodded with a small smile. "Thanks, that really helps. Hope things weren't too rough for you guys in here."

Hikari shook her head in reply. "Of course not. All we had to was wait tables."

It was Hibiki's turn to flop down into a chair. "Don't say it like it's nothing. Having to wait these damn tables all day is friggin' exhausting."

Hikari scowled lightly at her sister.

Hibiki lazily eyed Kazuma and then asked her twin, "What?" gruffly.

Hikari just sighed in exasperation.

Kazuma waved a hand at her with an apologetic smile. "Don't worry about it, she's just venting."

Hikari sighed and rest her head on her fists. "You know, you're too forgiving."

Kazuma just chuckled. "If you say so." He then stood up and signaled over to Erza. "Well, I suppose it's time we get going. I'll see you two tomorrow?"

The twins nodded as he and Erza, along with Mavis whom they did not see, left.

* * *

The trio, duo to most, left and began their walk back to Kazuma's apartment when they saw Orihime walking on the sidewalk opposite them.

Erza signaled Orihime who saw the two and crossed over the road towards them.

However, as she approached an out of control car careened towards her.

"Orihime!" Kazuma shouted as the car ran right by her, sending the girl tumbling to the ground. "Orihime!"

Erza and Kazuma ran over to Orihime, who was lying on the ground at the side of the road, and Kazuma knelt down to check on her.

"Orihime! Are you alright?"

Orihime slowly came to and then suddenly stood up. "Yup! I'm A-Okay!"

Kazuma and Erza sweat-dropped in incredulity.

Kazuma sighed and then continued to persist if she was alright.

As he did that, Erza noticed something strange on Orihime's leg, a strange, dark mark on her lower left leg. Erza narrowed her eyes and then pursued her curiosity. "…Orihime…"

The orange-haired airhead looked at her curiously. "Yes?"

Erza pointed to her leg and asked, "That mark, has it always been there?"

Orihime raised an eyebrow and looked down at her leg and saw the mark. She blinked in confusion and then shrugged. "Don't know. Wasn't there before. Maybe I got it in the accident."

Kazuma nodded in agreement and then offered to help. "You know, I could walk you home."

Orihime then, in a flash, grabbed her groceries and began running. "No thanks, I can handle it!" she answered as she ran off.

Kazuma blinked curiously and Erza asked, "Maybe she doesn't like you."

"Shut it," Kazuma snapped back.

* * *

After that event, Kazuma, Erza, and Mavis continued on their way home, Erza asking, "Kazuma, how well do you know Orihime?"

Kazuma raised an eyebrow in thought. "Well…I've only been here, in Shinto Teito, a few years, but I only really knew her through her brother, Sora."

Erza turned to him curiously. "Sora?"

Kazuma nodded. "Yes. Sora Inoue, Orihime's older brother. About three years ago…Sora was killed in a car accident. I don't know the specifics, but from what I understand, they started the day on rough terms and Orihime felt guilty about it."

Erza nodded with a frown. "I know what that can feel like." Images of a woman with long white hair appeared in Erza's mind.

Kazuma sighed as they continued walking.

Erza then narrowed her eyes and rushed on ahead.

"Ahh…where are you going?" Kazuma asked.

Erza turned to him and answered rushed, "I have to check something at home."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow confused and then just shrugged in response.

* * *

Back at Orihime's house, Tatsuki showed up and offered more food to Orihime for a meal.

Orihime smiled happily and denied her offering.

Tatsuki frowned. "No way, if I don't keep bringing you food every night then you'll just concoct some bizarre food on your own."

Orihime laughed weakly as Tatsuki followed her up the steps.

* * *

Kazuma arrived back at his apartment to find Erza still seemingly missing.

Mavis tilted her head in confusion as she made her form physical. "I wonder where she is."

That answer was given when Erza suddenly came rushing out from one of the side areas frantically. She put on her red glove again and ran over to him, "We've got orders and we need to move!"

Kazuma attempted to calm her enough to get info but Erza didn't waste a second pulling his soul from his body. Falling flat on his ass as he was taken from his body, Kazuma snarled, "What the hell?!"

"There's a Hollow nearby, we need to-!"

She was interrupted by a familiar roar.

Kazuma grabbed his Zanpakuto as a large, red and brown Hollow with the upper body of a human and a long, snake-like tail extending from its waist with a black pattern at the tip and its head resembled that of a human's with a white mask on and shoulder-length black hair appeared from a black portal in the wall. Kazuma smirked in amusement. "How considerate, this one decided _not_ to trash my room."

That compliment was soon disregarded as the Hollow opened its mouth and shouted, **"Vitriol Shot!" ** A blast of acid shot from its mouth towards Kazuma.

"Crap!" Kazuma ducked to the side as the shot of acid hit his dining room table and began to melt it. He flinched and then shouted, "Hey asshole! Don't you Hollows learn any manners!?"

The Hollow merely roared and swiped its long tail at Kazuma.

The brunette was surprised when the beast's tail was hard enough that it pushed away his Zanpakuto and sent Kazuma himself flying to the side right into the back wall. "Oww…that hurt…"

The large Hollow rushed towards Kazuma with its huge claws in attempt to tear him apart.

Kazuma snarled and set down his Zanpakuto, stabbing it into the floor, and then went through a few hand signs, sucked in a big breath, formed an arch with his right index and middle fingers and then exhaled as he shouted, "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" A huge fireball almost as big as Kazuma himself formed and then launched at the Hollow, hitting it dead-on in the face.

The beast howled in pain as it curled back, Kazuma smirking as he saw a chunk of its mask get blown off.

However, when the beast turned to him, his blood ran cold, he could see a human face underneath the part of the mask that had been revealed, the creature then opened another portal in the wall and dove through it, disappearing.

Erza frowned in annoyance and then turned to Kazuma puzzled. "Kazuma…what is it?"

His eyes wide, his body trembling slightly, Kazuma answered, "That…that was…Sora…Orihime's…older brother."

Erza frowned sadly before sighing. "Kazuma, there's something you should know about Hollows."

Kazuma blinked in curiousity. "What…?"

"All Hollows, every single one of them, used to be human. Human souls who have become monsters."

Kazuma paled. "Y-you can't be serious…"

Erza nodded. "However, they are no longer human. They are…" Erza clenched her fists as a pained expression crossed her face, "they are nothing more than violent monsters intent on killing and consuming human souls for power. And that includes the one we just encountered. He is no longer the person you used to know, he is nothing more than a monster that needs to be put down."

Kazuma clenched his fists angrily. "Shit…"

* * *

Back at Orihime's house, Tatsuki and Orihime were talking lightly about the events earlier that day.

Orihime showed Tatsuki the mark she had received from the accident, causing Tatsuki's eyes to widen. "Geez, you're a real klutz, you know that?"

Orihime laughed weakly. "Yeah…but fortunately Kazuma and Erza were there, so I didn't get hurt too bad."

Tatsuki nodded in agreement. "Yeah, despite his…unique choice of friends Kazuma's definitely a fast operator."

At that moment, a loud crash reverberated through the room along with a deafening roar.

* * *

Kazuma growled in anger as he looked around his apartment. "Dammit, why do these things insist on messing up my house?"

Erza grabbed his shoulder to get his attention. "We don't have time to stand around like this. We need to go!"

Kazuma looked at her confused and then nodded in agreement. He then turned to Mavis. "Hey, bring my body along for me!"

Mavis nodded and jumped into his body, possessing it for him.

* * *

At Orihime's house, Orihime and Tatsuki managed to finish their dinner after the strange sound, confused still however.

After that, however, Orihime turned and frowned. She crawled over to a pink, stuffed bear and picked it up, it having been knocked down. "Oh, Enraku got knocked down."

Tatsuki blinked and then pointed to its head. "Look, it got ripped."

"Hm…?"

* * *

As Kazuma, Erza, and Mavis in Kazuma's body ran towards an uncertain destination, Erza remarked, "One thing to note about Hollows is that they almost always attack the people they were closest to in life."

Kazuma snarled angrily. "Then that means…he'll be going after…"

* * *

"Orihime!" Tatsuki shouted as Orihime was thrown against a wall by an invisible force, going unconscious as a result. She then felt herself being pressed against the floor by the same invisible force.

Orihime, however, sat in a corner of her room frightened as she saw the massive Hollow pinning Tatsuki to the floor. She then looked down and noticed the long chain protruding from her chest and attaching her to what she recognized as her body.

The Hollow then turned to Orihime and called out her name. **"Orihimeee!"**

She shrunk back some and asked frightened, "H-how do you know my name?"

The monster heard her and turned, lunging at her.

However, at that moment, Kazuma burst in through the window and slashed at the Hollow's head, sending it slamming up into the ceiling.

Orihime turned, still in shock and saw Kazuma standing in front of her with his Zanpakuto. "K-Kazuma…?"

* * *

**Right, that about does it for the first chapter of Chaos Pawn of the Gremory.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

**Well, here's chapter two of Chaos Pawn of the Gremory. Hopefully you guys are excited to see it. I was certainly excited to write it, if my real life was getting in the way, what with Godzilla, new Gundam models, and a little marathon of movies I had going, all getting in the way. But those are done and so now is this. Anyway, I'd like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki as usual for helping me with this story. Also, so that people don't get confused, since many so often do, there will be a multitude of anime appearing in this story. Bleach, Fairy Tail, Naruto, High School DxD, and Sekirei already being among those mentioned. However, others that will be also include Tales of Xillia and Attack on Titan, as well as others, though not in any major, story-based fashion. It will become clear later on. As need be I'll explain which series are involved whenever characters from those series pop up. In any event, I don't think there's too much more of an announcement to go on this chapter, so I'll just get into the reviewer responses before the story proper actually starts.**

**Bakuto Masaki: I hope they do too, and of course you do, you helped create it. It'd be weird if you didn't.**

**Drednaught: I actually don't blame you for having a prejudice against OC stories since, by and large, most of them are shit. But then again Sturgeon's Law dictates ninety percent of everything is crap, I just hope most consider my story in the ten percent. But you read what you like, I'll just sit here doing my own thing.**

**Jose19: Yes, Kazuma is the main character of the story. Yes, he will have many different skills, though he will also have other skills familiar to most. Actually, in this version of the universe Karakura school doesn't exist. Instead the story takes place in Shinto Teito, and the story is based in Kuoh Academy within the city, the characters from Bleach, Sado, Ichigo, Uryuu, all are also attending Kuoh as well. And Ichigo is in the story, is a main character, he'll simply have slightly different powers from canon.**

**TheLastNanaya: Glad you're already positively inclined to it, that always helps. Yeah, the Agent of the Soul Reapers Arc as well as the following arc, which I won't name yet for various reasons, happen before the Asia Arc of DxD. Well the babes are all here, and if you didn't notice Kazuma is already good friends with Orihime and Tatsuki. Not sure if that really means anything to you but there you go.**

**Right, that should do it for reviewer responses, on to the actual chapter now I suppose.**

* * *

Kazuma, Orihime, and an unconscious Tatsuki were in Orihime's room in her house, where they were being attacked by a Hollow.

Orihime sat in a corner, her soul having been pulled from her body, as she looked up at Kazuma, standing in the garb of the Soul Reaper, holding his Zanpakuto.

"K-Kazuma…?" Orihime asked perplexed.

Kazuma flinched and turned around. "Or-Orihime…you can see me?"

Orihime nodded slowly. "Yeah, of course I can…why wouldn't I…?"

Kazuma frowned in thought. "But how…?"

The Hollow came out of its daze and then answered Kazuma's question, **"Because she is dead." **The Hollow then grabbed the long chain which lead from the center of Orihime's chest to her unconscious body. **"See…?"**

"You…!" Kazuma growled as he charged for the beast.

* * *

Erza approached the apartment building Orihime lived in with some annoyance. "Damn, where did that burst of speed come from?" she asked about Kazuma suddenly rushing ahead.

However, at that moment, Kazuma was thrown out the window in Orihime's apartment.

"Ah! Kazuma!"

* * *

The Hollow grabbed Orihime and brought with both hands and brought her close to its face.

Frightened she slowly turned to look into the face of the beast and her blood ran cold. She could see past the dead, monstrous eyes of the Hollow to the face behind the mask, she could see that it was her dead brother, Sora. "N-no…it can't be…S-Sora…?"

The Hollow gave a slight monstrous sigh before replying to her words, **"Yes, Orihime…"**

Orihime frowned and then shook her head fervently. "No! You can't be! Sora would never do things like this, he would _never_ attack my friends!"

**"You're wrong, Orihime. I was so lonely."**

"What…?" she asked in disbelief.

**"You forgot about me. Right after I died you set up that shrine for me. Every morning and every night you would pray for me. You did that for so long. But then, you started to make friends, started to find people you liked, started to forget about _me_. You prayed to that shrine less and less. And then you simply stopped completely. It's _because_ of those people that you forgot about. It's because of those people you IGNORED me! It's your fault this happened! It's your fault I ended up like this!"** The Hollow then began squeezing his hands tightly, trying to crush Orihime in his claws.

"AAAGGGHHH!" Orihime shouted in pain as she felt, even as a spirit, her body being crushed by her Hollowed brother.

Kazuma then appeared in the room again after jumping back up and saw the Hollow crushing Orihime. "Hey!" Kazuma rushed forward and sliced down, cutting off the Hollow's arm.

The Hollow howled in pain as his arm flopped to the ground and disintegrated. **"Why you…!"**

Kazuma sighed and then stood up and stared the beast down angrily. "You weak bastard."

**"What…?!"**

"You heard me. You call yourself a brother? An _older_ brother? That's just pathetic."

**"What do you know!?"**

Kazuma bit his lip angrily and then frowned at the Hollow. "Quite a lot, actually. I used to have a brother, and he taught me something, something _you_ obviously never learned." Images of a young man slightly older than Kazuma with a content smile came into his mind. "There's a reason the older siblings are born first. You know what it is?"

The Hollow narrowed his eyes in thought.

"That older brothers are born first to protect the younger siblings, to the point of giving their lives. And the fact that you're supposed to be Orihime's big brother and you're talking about_ killing_ her pisses me off!"

The Hollow narrowed its eyes angrily before preparing to roar when something caught its attention, the hair clips Orihime wore in her bangs. Images then began flowing into the beast's mind as Sora's memories of the day he gave those clips to Orihime, and the day he died, returned.

He remembered how angry she was with him, claiming that the hairpins were something she didn't want before he went off to work, leaving her to go to school.

He remembered getting into the accident, Orihime showing up at the hospital, crying.

He then remembered seeing her wearing the hairpins despite what she had said about them, and how happy that made him.

The Hollow bellowed loudly enough to force Kazuma to his knees from the pure air pressure before turning and smashing its head against the outside wall of Orihime's apartment, before turning and lunging at Orihime with a growl.

"That's enough!" Kazuma shouted as he raised a hand towards the beast. "Amaterasu!"

The Hollow's head was suddenly smothered in black flames, howling in pain before turning and slamming its head repeatedly into the same spot before bursting through the wall and to the outside, onto the ground below, somehow managing to put out the flames with the impact.

"Get back here you bastard!" Kazuma demanded as he jumped to the ground in pursuit of the monster. He jumped up to it and swung his Zanpakuto, the monster was too fast however and circled around behind him. To Kazuma's misfortune, that was a ruse as he felt the blunt pain of the Hollow's tail slamming into him and sending flying away.

The Hollow briefly roared proudly as Kazuma stood back up.

"You son of a bitch," Kazuma snarled before raising his sword to the side to send an attack at the Hollow.

However it anticipated his move and spat acid from its mouth, coating Kazuma's hands with it.

Kazuma shouted as the acid momentarily burned his hands, forcing him to drop his Zanpakuto.

This momentary diversion gave the Hollow ample time to go for one last strike.

Kazuma saw it coming and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan to allow the Hollow to pass through him; however, what happened shocked him.

Blood splashed to the ground as the Hollow bit down on its prey with a bone-crushing bite. However, what it had bitten, was not Kazuma, but Orihime whom had jumped in between the two to take the blow for Kazuma.

Kazuma's eyes widened as he watched Orihime take the blow. "You idiot! I wouldn't have been hurt!"

Orihime trembled as the Hollow held her in its maw, but not from the pain, but from her tears. "I'm sorry…" she whispered as she cried. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry I asked you not to leave when you died…Sora. It caused you to stay behind…to stay here and become…this monster…"

The red and black of the Hollow's eyes faded somewhat to reveal Sora's own underneath. **"Ori…hime…"**

"I always knew…knew that you were watching over me after you died. I even knew, though I wasn't sure, that you were the one that saved me from that car accident the other day." She pulled away some to look her brother in the eyes. "I didn't forget you."

**"Wh-what…?"**

"I didn't forget about you. I started doing the things I did, praying to your shrine less and less, so you could be happy."

Kazuma stood silently by as the two spoke, signaling Erza to wait as well.

"I wanted you to be happy, so you could see that I was able to move on, that I was able to be happy while you were gone, that your death didn't hold me back. I…didn't want you to feel guilty about it." Orihime then collapsed unconscious on the ground.

The Hollow began to roar and howl in pain and begin to thrash about.

Kazuma narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"I can explain why."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow.

"Why he's having that struggle. He was forced into becoming a Hollow, so that they would have someone you would have trouble fighting against, and it seems to have worked."

Kazuma nodded in understanding as the Hollow continued thrashing, before the skull-like helmet of the Hollow seemed to retract, revealing Sora's face underneath.

Erza nodded to herself and ran over to the unconscious Orihime, beginning to heal her. Erza then told Kazuma, "She's not dead."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "How? Her soul's been removed from her body."

Erza nodded as she continued. "That is true. However, the Chain of Fate is still connected, and as long as that remains true, her soul can be returned to her body."

Kazuma nodded in understanding as he turned to Sora, who was still in control of the Hollow. "Sora, I need to tell you something."

"Hm…?" he grunted curiously.

"Those hairpins you gave her, she told me that they were a present from you, and you know something, I don't think I've ever seen her without them."

Sora's eyes widened before he gave a contented smile. "That's good to hear, thank you, Kazuma."

Kazuma shrugged in response. "Hey, what're friends for?"

Sora reached out and grabbed Kazuma's Zanpakuto, pointing it towards himself.

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "Uh, wait…"

Erza put a hand on his shoulder. "Hold on. Slaying a Hollow is different than killing it."

Kazuma looked at her confused. "How…?"

"Because, killing a Hollow merely destroys it. And while neutralizing a Hollow is our job, it isn't always necessary to kill them. On rare occasions, it is possible to slay the Hollow, purging and curing the sings it has committed as a Hollow, allowing it to enter the Soul Society as a result. This way, Sora can do that."

Kazuma looked up at the beast with a far-off expression and then asked. "Do…all people go there when they die?"

Erza raised an eyebrow and answered puzzled, "Well…unless they committed sins as a human or are killed as Hollow. Why…?"

Kazuma shook his head. "Nothing."

Sora raised the sword and brought it towards the hole in his chest, however, he was stopped by the sound of Orihime's voice.

"Sora…please…wait…"

"Orihime…" Sora muttered confused as he turned to her.

"I need to…tell you something. Something I didn't tell you before…have a nice day…"

Sora smiled with a nod and replied, "I'm going now." Sora then plunged the sword through the hole in his chest as his Hollow form dissipated and vanished in a flurry of lights before Kazuma's Zanpakuto bounced onto the ground with a metallic clang.

After Sora completely disappeared Orihime couldn't help but begin to break down in tears.

Kazuma looked at her sadly and knelt down, lightly rubbing a hand on the top of her head. "It'll be okay, alright?"

Orihime nodded with tears still in her eyes, latching on to Kazuma's shirt and crying into his shoulder.

He sighed with a warm smile before pulling away from her gently. "Sorry, but I need to do this." His eyes switched to his Mangekyo Sharingan and he widened his right eye, "Genjutsu!"

Orihime's eyes widened and then flattened before going blank.

Erza raised an eyebrow curiously. "What did you do?"

"I used a genjutsu to plant false memories in her head and replace these ones."

Erza hummed thoughtfully. "There's actually a device we Soul Reapers have that does the same thing. Do you have control over what the memories are?"

Kazuma leaned back on his hands with a sigh. "Well…not really, no. I was never particularly good at _controlling_ the genjutsu cast with my Mangekyo. I could cause them though it was a crapshoot at what they'd actually do. As far as I know she could talk about something normal like a gas pipe explosion to a sumo wrestler breaking in her house and shooting the place up."

"You do realize that's absurd, right?"

"Like I said, crapshoot. Speaking of, I'd better cast the genjutsu on Tatsuki too just to be safe."

* * *

The next day at school, Orihime seemed to recite the exact same story that Kazuma came up with for absurdity, though Tatsuki's was not much better, if a little more grounded.

* * *

Although that wasn't the strangest part of the day, to the outside observer.

Kazuma had arrived at the same time as usual each day and found his two friends, Matsuda and Motohama looking over different things on a phone. "Hey, what's up you two?"

Matsuda pumped a fist in the air excitedly. "Yo, Kazuma! How's it hangin'?"

Kazuma shrugged as he walked up to the duo. "Not bad. Whatcha looking at?"

Matsuda grinned perversely and showed off the image on the screen to Kazuma.

Kazuma raised an eyebrow as he looked at it.

"Isn't it great?" Matsuda asked. "I managed to snap it the other day when the wind was just right. An up skirt shot of the whole school."

Kazuma smirked as he held the phone. "Not bad. Hmm…I think I recognize a few people."

Matsuda and Motohama shared a confused look. "Well…of course you do…they're our schoolmates…"

Kazuma flinched and then handed him the phone back. "Ah…yeah…of course…" '_Shit…having that redhead around all the time is putting my guard down. Speaking of, where is-?_' Kazuma's train of thought was interrupted as something flat and hard hit him in the back of the head with force. "Gagh!" Kazuma flinched for a moment before reaching back and putting the object in his hands. "A…lunchbox…?"

Matsuda and Motohama looked at it curiously.

Matsuda snorted lewdly. "Dude, look, it's tied up so neatly. That _has_ to be a chick's box. Maybe she lost it?"

Kazuma turned and watched as Erza walked up to the group.

Matsuda and Motohama, naturally, leered perversely as she walked up.

"Whoa, dudes, hotty alert," Matsuda remarked.

Motohama adjusted his glasses as Erza approached. "I-I think she's coming this way."

His assumption was proven correct as Erza walked up to them, Kazuma specifically, and folded her arms in annoyance.

Kazuma cleaned out one ear with a finger and asked gruffly, "Can I help you?"

Erza pointed to the lunchbox. "You forgot that. Again."

Kazuma looked at with a raised eyebrow and then gave her a deadpan answer. "Is that supposed to be my problem?"

"It means you don't eat."

"I think I can handle it."

"Not when I go through all that trouble."

"Then don't."

"I don't think you understand the situation."

"And I don't think I care."

Erza twitched an eyebrow in annoyance. "Honestly. Do what you want, I'm heading to class."

Kazuma stuffed the packed lunch into his bag and turned around dismissively. "Yeah, whatever." However, he noticed an odd pressure in the air and turned to see his two friends glaring angrily at him. '_Uh-oh…_'

Mavis, who was floating nearby invisibly, giggled amusedly. "Oh boy, you screwed up."

'_Shit…_'

"Explanation now!" Matsuda and Motohama demanded.

Kazuma leaned over, appearing to look at something. "Whoa, is that a pair of disembodied tits?"

"What, where?!" Matsuda and Motohama shouted excitedly. "Huh…HEY!"

Later the same day, after managing to duck out past his cohorts, Kazuma decided to join a few of his other friends for lunch. Ichigo, Orihime, and Tatsuki were among the group, but there was also a fourth person.

A young man of obvious Mexican descent, rather than Japanese as with most, with dark skin, pronounced cheek bones, and wavy brown hair with bangs that covered his brown eyes. Though his most noticeable feature was his height, which exceeded those around him, as well as his overly muscular build. He also had a tattoo on his exposed left shoulder which read, "Amore e Morte," written over a heart with angel wings and a snake around it.

"Yo, Orihime, Ichigo, Tatsuki, Chad," Kazuma greeted as he walked in with Erza beside him.

"What's up? Huh, who's that?" Tatsuki asked.

Kazuma blinked and looked to the side. "I haven't introduced you to her yet?"

"Nuh-uh. Is she your girlfriend?"

"As if," Kazuma and Erza responded in unison.

"I…see…" Tatsuki trailed off.

"Anyway," Kazuma began as he sat down with his food, "she's a new transfer to my classroom. Naturally all the guys went gaga."

Erza looked at him slightly puzzled, not certain whether that was a compliment or not.

Of course Kazuma dug his own grave when he added, "They'll pretty fawn over anything with a pulse."

Thwack!

Kazuma twitched after being knocked in the head.

"You kinda walked into that one buddy," Tatsuki remarked.

Kazuma rubbed the growing welt on his head and sighed. "Yeah…probably." Kazuma then turned to Chad and noticed his odd expression, that is, underneath his mop of hair. "Something wrong?"

"Could you not call me 'Chad'?" he requested.

Kazuma shrugged as he began eating his meal. "Why? Chad's a perfectly acceptable name."

"But my name's not Chad, it's Sado."

"Bah, Sado's too hard to remember. Besides, Chad is a more agreeable name, easier on the voice box."

"There's no difference."

"Exactly. So Chad's fine then."

"Chad" merely sweat-dropped in resignation before getting back to his meal.

Kazuma turned with a curious eyebrow hearing a strange amount of grunting next to him.

He turned to see Erza struggling with something in her hands. A juice box.

Kazuma blinked in disbelief. "Uhm…you okay over there?"

Erza looked at him annoyed. Through her grunts of frustration she answered, "…Yes…actually…this object is…much tougher than…I expected…"

Kazuma sighed and took the box from her, easily popping the straw into the marked hole and handing it back to her.

Erza eyed the object curiously before deciding to drink it. "Oh! It's good."

"That's the whole idea dummy."

Thwack!

"Damn that hurt."

* * *

After classes ended for the day, Matsuda and Motohama finally cornered their target at his seat in the class.

Seeing them looming overhead, Kazuma rested his chin on a hand in annoyance. "Need something?"

Matsuda and Motohama slammed their hands down on Kazuma's desk, prompting the latter to sit up before their heads bumped into his, and Matsuda demanded, "How did you get a lunch made by the new, very, _very_ hot transfer student?"

Kazuma twitched an eye in annoyance. "You guys are _still_ hung up on that?"

"Of course we are. It's a rare wonder, to have the new, hot transfer student make a lunch for you," Motohama asserted as he adjusted his glasses. "In addition, your conversation sounded rather familiar. Care to explain that?"

Kazuma sighed in resignation. "Fine. I knew you guys would throw a fit so I didn't say anything. She lives in the same apartment complex as me with her boyfriend and has a hard time measuring servings so usually makes extras and just throws together lunches of leftover food for me since I, myself, can't cook worth squat." He lied.

Matsuda and Motohama turned to each other perplexed.

"S-so…that's it…?" Motohama asked.

"Yup," Kazuma answered plainly.

"Then…who's her boyfriend?"

"Some weirdo who works in a factory."

"You know anything about him?"

"Not a damn thing except he's annoying. Almost as annoying as you two are right now."

The duo flinched and then stood up straight, collecting themselves. Matsuda then smirked and knelt down. "You know, I got a brand new DVD, the newest Kamen Rider Pinky. You wanna see the awesomeness?"

Kazuma looked at them curiously and narrowed his eyes. "What's the date?"

"The date?" Motohama asked. "Not sure. I know it's a Tuesday though. Why?"

"Then I'm sorry but I can't join you two. I've got plans tonight."

The duo gaped. "Y-you have something more important than Kamen Rider Pinky?!" the asked in unified shock.

Kazuma looked up in thought and scratched his chin. Then answered plainly, "Yeah, that about sums it up."

His friends froze in stone-cold shock.

"Well, why don't you two go have fun, I've got other stuff to handle."

* * *

After that, Kazuma made his way to the front gate of the school and stood there waiting, his hands above his head. As someone began to approach he turned to look at them and frowned in irritation. "Great, it's you again."

Kazuma turned as a young woman around his age with short black hair in a bob cut, violet eyes, a slim figure, and wearing the female Kuoh uniform along with rounded, violet-colored spectacles. The teen walked up to Kazuma with a sophisticated gait before stopping beside him.

Kazuma sighed in frustration and cracked an eye at her dismissively, though she completely ignored the act. "Sona Shitori, president of the student council. So to what do I owe the honor of your presence?"

"I'd like to ask you again-"

"No," Kazuma responded bluntly.

Sona flinched at the sudden and sharp response, though she hid it well. "May I ask why?"

"Same reason as always. While I appreciate your position and role in the school as its governing body for the students, I have absolutely no interest in joining your little parade of people fancying about. I've told you four times already, I am _not_ joining the student council, so stop asking."

"I will cease as soon as you join a club."

Kazuma put his hands behind his head and sighed. "Yeah…because every club is just _itching_ for a lethargic pervert."

Sona smirked craftily. "Still playing that card are we. Well, I at the very least have interest. So why not try joining a club of your own volition? You could be surprised."

"Or I could shirk the whole thing and not worry about the responsibility. That sounds like a much better idea. So, we done here?"

Just then, a young, slightly curvier, woman with long black hair down to her waist, with two long bangs hanging over her bust, a violet left eye and light brown right eye, the female Kuoh uniform without the cape, narrow, and light blue spectacles walked up to Sona and whispered into her ear.

Sona twitched and clenched a hand before sighing. She then turned to Kazuma. "It seems some family issues have come up, so I will be taking my leave. I will approach you again however."

"And I'll keep shooting you down."

Sona sighed in frustration and walked away. However, as she left, she frowned at the figure that shot her a victorious smirk before heading towards the gate.

A few moments after they left, a female voice said next to Kazuma, "You haven't been waiting long, have you?"

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow and folded his arms. "Actually, I have. I just got done having another run-in with that damned student council president. Though I could've avoided it if you arrived a few minutes earlier, Akeno."

Akeno was a young woman around Kazuma's age with long black hair tied in a ponytail that still managed to reach her ankles that had two long antennae sticking out and sloping backwards along with violet eyes and a very large, very generous bust as well as the female Kuoh uniform complete with shoulder-cape. Akeno giggled amusedly to herself. "Ufufufu. Sorry to make you wait, Kazu."

Kazuma grumbled lightly as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "I could've sworn I told you not to call me that."

"But it's such a fun name to say." She then asked in a pouty voice, "You wouldn't honestly deprive me of that, would you, Ka-zu?"

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow and grumbled to himself. '_Damn…just like Altria…she knows exactly how to push my buttons._' Sighing he responded, "Whatever. Let's just get going, we don't have time to put on casual clothes, I'm hoping you don't mind."

"Not at all."

As they walked off, neither of them seemed to notice the rather annoyed observer.

Above the duo, however, Rias watched them leave with a mild frown.

* * *

That after all turned out to be the important matter Kazuma had to take care of, a date with Akeno Himejima.

How that unique situation came to be was rather mundane.

After observing Akeno, as well as Rias, from afar with his two closest friends Matsuda and Motohama, Kazuma had gotten into a situation where he was standing close to Akeno for a few moments silently. To break the uncomfortable silence he mentioned her place as one of the school's idols and remarked how he would ask her out if it was a feasible possibility.

What tripped him up, however, was that she responded "Yes" to his joke of a request, resulting in him having to ask again, to which she again said yes.

That resulted in them going on their first date, and their second, and now their third.

Of course any normal human being would announce the situation to the world at large, but Kazuma was not quite that kind of person and did his best to keep a slight distance from her, also electing not to inform his cohorts of his arrangement, for knowing the shit storm it would brew up were he to do so.

* * *

So with that knowledge in hand, Kazuma chose to take their date to another area of the city entirely, where getting spotted would be highly unlikely.

The first event of the night was rather simplistic, Kazuma taking Akeno to see one area of town she'd never seen before, the more high-priced district where most of the high-rise restaurants and expensive businesses resided.

It was an extra plus for Kazuma that nobody he knew had the necessary income to even visit the district. Though that would leave one to wonder how _he_ did.

* * *

Kazuma decided the best place to start for the day was somewhere he figured Akeno would at least somewhat enjoy.

An upscale mall. Simplistic but effective.

As is usual in such an arrangement, Kazuma merely followed along to wherever Akeno decided she wanted to go at that moment, though he did find it mildly annoying how she had a habit of suddenly changing direction to somewhere else.

Although she eventually stopped when she seemed to find a place that caught her interest.

Kazuma could only blink curiously. '_A…weapon shop…why do I get the sincere feeling this will end poorly…?_'

* * *

That was a feeling which persisted as they wandered through the small shop, Akeno attaining the same dreamy-eyed expression at the variety of bladed and blunt weapons shown throughout that most women would have at fancy jewelry and clothing.

That should have sounded a few of Kazuma's alarm bells, but he ignored it as he followed her around the shop.

Eventually they stopped when something seemed to truly grab Akeno's interest.

He turned to look at it and frowned in concern.

That something was a long, flexible whip tipped with a blunt, metal object at the end.

Kazuma could only sweat-drop and ask, "Erm…I guess…you like that…?"

Akeno didn't answer verbally, merely a sly giggle, "Ufufufu…"

Kazuma raised an eyebrow and turned to look at her. He noticed her expression looked rather…strange.

Her face had flushed as she brought a hand up to one cheek with a contented smile.

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow and then asked with a sigh, "You want that…whip…?"

Akeno suddenly made a heel-turn on her personality and gave Kazuma a sweet smile. "How kind," she remarked with a smile and her normal composure regained.

'_Great…out of all of them I picked the mental one._'

It took a few moments to convince the shopkeeper to get the weapon down, something like that normally isn't sold to those younger than eighteen, but the two walked out of the shop, Akeno holding the bag with her new whip as she walked beside Kazuma happily.

* * *

After purchasing Akeno's "new toy" as she so strangely put it, she and Kazuma made their way to a restaurant nearby, one Akeno showed great interest in trying.

* * *

To Kazuma's surprise and relief, the restaurant wasn't anything outrageously bizarre, but rather featured mostly western foods and dishes, something Akeno had been interested in trying since, as she told him, "Where I live we often eat typical and traditional Japanese food, so I thought, western food would be a nice change of pace. Hm?"

Kazuma nodded in agreement as he sat down to order.

Although, he would've been a little happier if the place she had chosen was not part of a worldwide fast food chain.

'_First…I take her to a mall and the first shop she chooses sells weapons…and then I let her choose the restaurant and she chooses _this_. Perhaps…it was not such a good idea to give her the reins on this date. The more I see…the more I realize that this Great Lady of Kuoh is truly insane._'

Akeno looked at him curiously and asked with a smile that seemed just a little too sweet, "Hm? Is something wrong?"

Kazuma smiled weakly and shook his head. "Ah…no…it's nothing."

Simple as it was, the food itself was good, plain burgers. Though Kazuma was personally hoping she'd pick something a little higher scale, since it would allow him to show off a little.

However it was cheap, and that wasn't something Kazuma would complain about.

* * *

A little while after leaving the restaurant, Kazuma turned and asked, "Hope today wasn't too boring."

Akeno shook her head. "No, it was rather amusing."

Kazuma blinked in curiosity. "Amusing? How so?"

"Hmm…let's just say I did have fun."

"…Right…anyway…you still don't want me walking you home?"

Akeno shook her head. "No, I will be fine. Besides, don't boys get more of a thrill for waiting?" Ending that sentence with a wink she walked off waving to him.

Kazuma sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "Geez…she's just as weird as Altria. And at least her I could attempt to understand through a spar. But her…she's one big pile of confusing and breasts."

**'_I can't believe you just said that…_'**

'_Can it fire-breather._'

* * *

With a few hours left in the day and no interest in heading back home at that time, he knew he'd probably have to go on another monster hunt with Erza, Kazuma made his way to Ayame's restaurant to pick up what was left of his shift.

* * *

"Ah, Kazuma," happily remarked a slightly older woman with waist-length brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a suit with a long skirt.

Kazuma waved to her as he walked in. "Yo. Still need me for the night, Ayame?"

Ayame nodded with a smile. "Always. Those two don't really cook as well as you do. Plus, we've got an interesting customer tonight."

Kazuma blinked in confusion as he walked in. "Oh…and why's that?"

"It's someone who wants to try and conquer Mount Everest."

Kazuma looked at her incredulously. "Really? I didn't think anyone else was willing to tackle that mountain of ice cream and sweets."

Ayame smiled and motioned to her side. "Well we actually have someone willing to give it a shot, so get busy."

"Right, right," Kazuma answered dismissively as he walked into the restaurant's kitchen.

Walking in the back, he flinched when he saw Hibiki and Hikari covered soot. "Uhm…what the hell happened to you two?"

"Shut up!" Hibiki snarled. "We had to take over cooking while you were busy doing who knows what! I still don't get how you do it!"

Hikari sighed as she stroked some of the black gunk from her hair. With a little more control than her sister, she remarked, "Yeah, with both of us working back here and Ayame taking the orders out to the customers, we can't keep up. And yet with just yourself you seem to be able to do it all perfectly."

Kazuma just chuckled to himself as he helped pat some of the soot off their clothes. Though at one point his hands wandered a little too much, earning him a thwack in the face from both girls before they stormed out.

Kazuma waited a few moments and then looked to see that no one else was present so he decided to get busy with his secret weapon for cooking. He raised a hand in front of his face and concentrated. After a few moments his body began to glow before multiple copies of himself appeared beside him. Grinning he thought, '_I just love Thought Projections._'

* * *

After that he had his Thought Projections, mana-based copies of a person, get to work on the rest of the orders while he himself focused on the Mount Everest, a special challenge meal he and Ayame came up with. Which was a layer of soft serve ice cream of three different flavors, then a layer of banana pudding, a layer of brownies, a layer of fudge and then multiple red cherries topping it all off.

The meal prepared, Kazuma walked out to the main dining hall with the dessert and listened for which table to take it to. He paled when he saw it.

Not because of the first person he noticed, which was a young attractive girl with long black hair tied in twin ponytails with pink bows and energetic violet eyes who wore an outfit that strongly resembled a magical girl uniform consisting of a bright pink beret, a pink belly shirt with vertical yellow lines on each side, a short white vest with dark pink borders, a large pink bow with a large amulet holding it in place, long, black, fingerless gloves with white cuffs at the top, a pink miniskirt with white side-flaps as well as a low belt, and long stockings with black and pink stripes, and she even had a large pink wand with a yellow star at the top sitting next to her in the booth Kazuma noticed that while she had an overall childlike body, she had rather large breasts.

That person wasn't the one that bothered Kazuma, it was the one sitting opposite her in the booth, Sona Shitori.

'_Oh wonderful…what a pain,_' Kazuma remarked in his head.

Mavis, who was floating invisibly next to him, giggled and teased, "You just can't escape her, can you?"

Kazuma just sighed and walked up to the duo, hoping Sona wouldn't cause a scene.

As he walked up to their booth, Sona turned to him and widened her eyes some as she saw him, before narrowing her eyes in a smirk.

Kazuma snarled silently as he presented the large dish.

He heard the well-endowed girl gasp with delight before moaning happily and drooling at the sight.

"Wow…it looks so good! Don't you think So-tan!?"

Kazuma twitched his lip. "So-tan?" he whispered.

Sona narrowed her eyes. "Not a word," she whispered silently.

Kazuma nodded and retorted, "So long as you keep quiet about this."

Sona frowned in thought. "That's a very one-sided offer."

Kazuma was about to answer when the pink-dressed girl immediately started digging in to the food at a superhuman pace.

Sona sighed as she watched the young woman eat and then turned to speak to Kazuma but raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes at the object next to him.

Kazuma began to sweat slightly. '_Shit…she can't see Mavis can she?_'

Sona opened her mouth to ask Kazuma a question but her companion interrupted.

"So-tan! So-tan! You should try this!" she asserted as she shoved her spoon towards Sona.

Sona frowned in annoyance. "Sister, you should try keeping your composure, you're making a scene."

"Aww! Just try it!"

Sona gained a tic mark as Kazuma added, "Sister, huh? She seems pretty different than you though, Miss Class President."

The girl blinked with a spoon in her mouth and turned to Kazuma, asking, spoon still shoved in her gob, "You know So-tan?"

Kazuma, nodded plainly. "Yes, she and I go to the same school." '_Man…I really hope this all adds up to enough evidence to keep Sona's mouth shut. I really don't need the pain in the ass that would come with this being disclosed to the school._'

The girl pulled the spoon out of her mouth swiftly and asked seriously, "Did you make this?"

Concerned by the previously jubilant girl's swift attitude shift, Kazuma answered weakly, "Er…yeah…why…?"

Smiling widely, the girl pointed at Kazuma with her spoon and announced, "That settles it! I, Serafall Leviathan, denote you as my queen!"

Sona gaped as Kazuma face-faulted and shouted, "That's not how it works!" He then paused in thought. '_Wait…did she say…Leviathan…? Like…Garnet Leviathan…? But…this girl has…black hair…and fair skin. She…can't be a Leviathan…_'

Sona immediately glared at her sister. "I think we're done here. How much for the food?"

Kazuma looked at Sona dumbly, still stuck in his own thoughts. "Oh, ah, sixteen hundred yen."

Sona nodded and sighed as she paid for the item. "I hope you enjoyed it Sister."

Serafall nodded happily. "Yup!"

Ayame walked over to the teen happily. "I'm sure glad you did. And, as a special reward for completing the challenge, any and all meals you order for the next two weeks will be free."

Serafall cupped her fists under her chin gleefully. "Really!? Yay!"

Sona sighed and then stood up after paying and then turned to Kazuma, "Oh, and may I speak to you outside?"

Kazuma narrowed his eyes and turned to Ayame, who nodded with a smile. Removing his apron he nodded to Sona and followed her out to the walkway beside the restaurant.

* * *

"Explanation, now," Sona demanded harshly.

"Aww, you're being to mean So-tan, be nicer to Kazu-tan."

Kazuma sweat-dropped. '_K-Kazu…tan…?_'

Sona just grumbled at Serafall, who shrunk back at her sister's violent glare, and then turned back to Kazuma. "Tell me why you're working here and why it seems you try so hard to hide it. I've even asked you if you have a job and you've said no. So there must be a reason."

Kazuma sighed in frustration and folded his arms. "You got me there, there is a reason. I don't like being broke, so that's why I took the job here."

Sona narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "I suppose it is simple enough. How about why you are so sketchy about it?"

"That's…a little harder to explain. And not something I like talking about since it makes me out as a braggart. I suppose the simplest reason is image."

"Image?" Sona asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, you should know a thing or two about that. I chose such a faraway location because it means I can just let loose while at the school, without my persona and reputation here changing how people see and look at me. I'm able to just sort of disappear and not be noticed. It makes my life a whole lot easier."

"I see. I can help you keep this reputation and side of yourself hidden, if you help _me_."

Kazuma sneered off to the side. "Forget it. I've told you before and I'll tell you again, I'm not joining your little group."

"Then I can't be held responsible for the fallout."

Kazuma narrowed his eyes angrily. "Was that a threat?"

"No, a mere warning."

Kazuma sighed before frowning at her. "If that's so then if word gets around about this, you'll be the first person I go to. And I won't be as nice as usual. I don't enjoy people trying to screw with me, I don't care who you are."

Sona adjusted her glasses snidely. "You should watch your tone, you have no sense of you're talking to."

Kazuma glanced at Serafall dismissively. "I have a pretty good idea who. And that doesn't affect what I said. Don't screw with the way I've tried to get things like this set up, the discomfort and annoyance I'll experience as a result to this information getting out would be a drop in the bucket."

"Hey!" Serafall intervened, stepping between Kazuma and Sona. "Don't threaten So-tan!"

"I'm not, only warning."

Sona put a hand on Serafall's shoulder. "It is alright, Big Sister. Now, I have one last question for you." She then pointed to Mavis.

Kazuma rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "So you can see her. Wonderful. Again, don't tell anyone about her, just like I'd prefer you don't tell anyone about my job here, I'd like to keep my life at school separate from this."

"Who is she?" Sona asked.

Kazuma looked at Mavis for a moment in thought. "I dunno. She's just a spirit that kinda hung around me for a while. All I know is her name, Mavis. Aside from that I've got nothin'. Now if you don't mind there's still a couple hours left in the day."

Kazuma and Mavis then walked past Sona, who turned around the corner to watch him go and observed something odd as two girls walked up to the front door and seemed to smile brightly at Kazuma, Kazuma's own demeanor changing as a result of their attention. Sona narrowed her eyes curiously. '_I see…so that's it._'

* * *

Kazuma finished up the day like any other before heading home. However, he happened upon a slightly familiar sight on his way home.

The same well-endowed woman in the same purple dress sleeping on the sidewalk.

Kazuma looked up and noticed clouds overhead and rubbed his temple in frustration. "Dammit…why can't I just leave well enough alone?"

Doing the same as he had the previous time, Kazuma hoisted the well-endowed beauty, still mostly unconscious from the sake that mixed with her breath, and carried her to the nearby hospital.

* * *

Greeting the nurse and explaining the same situation as before, Kazuma left the woman in a hospital bed with the same kind of bowl of ramen as before, whilst also making himself scarce before she came to.

* * *

Kazuma sighed as he walked away but narrowed his eyes as he noticed a strange presence nearby.

Kazuma stopped and turned around, though didn't see anyone. Shrugging he continued walking, though still felt the presence.

After a few more minutes he stopped and turned around.

"I'm done with you following me, come out."

A petite girl who appeared to be around fifteen, with short white hair with two slightly longer bangs going past her shoulders and several loose bangs around her forehead, while the back was in a short bob cut, hazel eyes, black, cat-shaped clips on both sides of her hair, and who wore the Kuoh Academy uniform, the variant without the shoulder-cape, appeared in front of Kazuma.

Kazuma looked at her and recognized her as a fellow student. "You're…Koneko Toujo…right?"

The stone-faced girl nodded slowly. "Yes."

After a momentary silence Kazuma asked, "Is there a reason you're following me?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"…Okay…and what is it…?"

"…Mount Everest…"

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. '_Y-…you gotta be kidding me…_' "I…I see. Y-you want to…climb it…?"

Koneko groaned. "No."

Kazuma sighed in annoyance. "I see…"

"I want some."

Kazuma grunted in frustration. "Well there's nothing I can do about that right now."

"Okay. I want some."

Kazuma rubbed the back of his neck in response and replied, "Alright, how about a deal?"

"What?"

"You say nothing about anything you saw or heard and I'll get one ready if you come to the restaurant the day after tomorrow."

"Okay."

"So is that acceptable?"

"Yes."

Kazuma sighed and then walked away from the petite girl waving, not noticing her minute smile at the thought of the massive dessert.

* * *

At the same time in another area of town, Sado sat with two of his friends, one with shoulder-length grey hair and the other with short black hair, near a construction site merely speaking.

The grey-haired friend held out something for Sado to see, a metal bird-cage with a small white parakeet inside. "Hey Chad, look at this."

Sado blinked at it puzzled. "A bird…?"

"Yeah. It's supposedly cursed, since every previous owner of it has died. So do you want it?"

The black-haired friend waved his hands wildly. "No way! Just leave it somewhere!"

"What? No way man, I can't do that, it's just mean." He then turned to Sado and asked, "You want it?"

The other friend looked at him incredulously? "And you said _I'm_ mean? You know Chad can't resist cute things."

However, as they sat there, Sado looked up as he heard a strange sound before a large metal beam fell from above them and plummeted towards the trio.

"Wh-what the!?"

Sado grunted as he stood up and braced himself under the beam, preventing it from hitting his friends.

The bird began to go crazy, squawking and chirping incessantly, frightened.

* * *

In the same dark, shadowed area as where Sora was turned, multiple dark figures stood conversing.

**"Mmm…I need more souls…"** one remarked.

**"Naturally…but Soul Reapers…theirs are the tastiest,"** another added.

The first one then mentioned, **"But I've got a perfect system, I get as many souls as I want…and entertainment…"**

* * *

Sado's friends looked at him puzzled and dazed before his grey-haired friend shouted, "Chad! Are you alright?!"

"Yes," he answered.

"Thank you mister."

Everyone looked around and then Sado looked down at the bird. "Did you…just talk?" Sado asked.

"Yes, my name's Yuichi Shibata. What's yours mister?"

"Th-that bird…it just talked…like a person!" his grey-haired friend remarked.

"Tell me mister, what's your name?" the bird insisted.

Blood dripping from his head and the beam still on his back, Sado answered, "Sado. Yasutora Sado."

His grey-haired friend poked the other in the shoulder. "Chad wants that bird, doesn't he?"

His black-haired friend just nodded silently.

* * *

Kazuma walked up to the school building with Erza beside him. Yawning, Kazuma remarked, "I certainly hope those two don't make a problem of this."

Erza looked at him puzzled. "Oh? What do you mean?"

"I just ran into a few classmates last night at work, I hope they don't make a mess of it."

"Have you thought of using this?" Erza asked with a lighter in her hand.

Kazuma sweat-dropped. "Err…I don't…want to kill them…"

Erza tilted her head puzzled. "What does this have to do with death?"

"It's a lighter. You use to ignite things."

"Oh…that's why people were afraid when I pulled this out. No, it rewrites people's memories and replaces it with random outcomes."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's rather…strange."

"It's effective though."

"I see. Well for now let's just hope things don't get too annoying. I can only hope Milla keeps my life steady…though with Presa by her side I'm probably in trouble with that Kitsune's pranks."

"Milla? Presa? Who are they?" Erza asked puzzled.

"Ah…well…old friends."

Erza looked at him still confused.

"Nevermind…"

"What…?" Erza then just shook her head and the grabbed Kazuma's hands.

"Uh, hey!"

Erza looked at him plainly. "Don't worry, I'm only checking your injuries from the battle with Acidwire."

"Acidwire?"

"Yes, the Soul Society gives codenames to all the Hollows we fight." She then pulled back his sleeve and raised an eyebrow puzzled. "Your injuries are completely healed."

Tugging his hand back roughly he replied, "Yeah, I heal quickly."

Erza looked at him curiously before just accepting it and resuming their walk to the school.

* * *

The first few classes passed simply enough. It was during the lunch period that Kazuma found his first point of annoyance.

Standing outside his classroom was Sona.

He twitched an eyebrow and then immediately walked in the other direction.

Sona looked at him puzzled and then pursued behind him, however his path was suddenly altered when an arm reached out around the corner and pulled him into a hallway.

Sona frowned in frustration and followed to the corner and saw Kazuma had been pulled over by the others of the Perverted Trio. Not wanting to get involved with those two she sighed and wandered off.

Kazuma growled as he wrenched his arm free from Matsuda's grip. "Geez, what the hell?! Pulling me aside like that!"

"Sorry man, but we had to speak to you secretly," Matsuda insisted.

"About what, exactly?"

Motohama adjusted his glasses as he answered, "We saw her. A Magical Girl. We saw one yesterday."

Kazuma looked at them in disbelief.

Matsuda nodded in agreement. "Yeah man! And she was hot with huge titties and everything!"

Kazuma thought for a moment and then asked, "Was it a girl with long black hair and a glaringly pink outfit?"

"Yeah! Yeah!" both answered forcefully, Motohama insisting, "You saw her?!"

Kazuma groaned as he swiftly thought up an excuse. "Well…when you see a Magical Girl walking down the sidewalk it's kind of hard not to notice. You know?"

"Yeah! Yeah!"

"Could you two stop replying in tandem like that? It's really creepy."

Coughing into his hand, Matsuda added, "It was totally awesome though. I didn't think there really were girls that dressed like that in real life."

Kazuma laughed weakly as he thought, '_They should meet Tohka. Talk about magical girl._' Sighing Kazuma responded, "Yeah, that's true. Anyway, I really do need to go get some lunch, so I'll talk to you guys later."

Before letting him go, Matsuda grabbed Kazuma by the arm and said quietly, or rather what he thought was quietly which was really just quiet enough for those outside not to hear, "Come on over to my house later, I've got some brand new 'material' to watch."

Kazuma blinked and then sighed. "Maybe. I'll probably be busy again but if I can stop by I will."

"'Kay!"

* * *

After finally making his way from his friends, Kazuma plopped down on the roof to begin his meal, shortly thereafter several others arrived.

First was Erza who seemed to have been looking for him.

"There you are," she remarked as she walked up to him and sat down.

"Need something?" he asked as he munched through his sandwich.

"Yes, I was wondering why you seemed late again returning home."

Kazuma sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well…that's because I seem to keep getting myself involved in something weird. Don't ask me to explain because even I'm not certain I could do that."

"I see. Couldn't you just use a Kido to solve the situation?"

"A whatnow?"

"A Kido. They're similar to spells or ninjutsu, except they involve a different set of movements to activate and often have effects the others do not."

"That so? Never heard of it, though you seem to know what you're talking about."

Smirking proudly, Erza remarked, "Well, I did receive the highest marks for Kido in my class. Though admittedly that was so long ago I'm not certain the curriculum is the same."

"Class?" Kazuma asked puzzled. "So is there something like…a school for Soul Reapers?"

Erza looked up into the sky with a finger on her chin in thought. "Well…I suppose you could call it that. In any event-"

Erza's sentence was interrupted as a voice cut her off, "Yo," Ichigo announced as he and another student, one most would not expect to be in Kazuma's circle of friends walked over. Yuuto Kiba.

Erza turned and glared angrily at the two. "Don't interrupt me," she ordered harshly.

"Y-yes ma'am," Ichigo answered weakly.

"Yikes Ichigo, who is she?" Kiba asked.

"Oh? That's Erza Scarlet, a transfer student Kazuma's friends with," Ichigo answered.

The blonde sat down and raised an eyebrow. "You're friends with her Kazuma? Somehow I pegged you as the type who wouldn't be able to get any normal girls to like you considering your shared company."

"Hey!" Orihime objected as she walked over, "I'm friends with him."

Kazuma seized the moment and remarked, "Note that he said normal girls."

"Whaa!? That's mean!"

"You're not saying I'm abnormal, are you Kazuma?" Tatsuki asked confidently.

Kazuma answered, "Considering the amount of testosterone in your blood probably exceeds mine, yes, I am." He was rewarded with a foot to the face.

"You idiot!"

Kazuma sat up, seemingly unphased by the strike, and continued, "Besides, Erza is most certainly not what I'd call normal."

Erza glared as she reared up her fist.

However, Kazuma unwittingly remarked, "Cute, but not a normal girl."

Erza blinked curiously and then just set her fist down as she tried to think how to react to his remark. Eventually settling on an exasperated sigh.

Tatsuki then made a passing remark, "You know, this is about the third or fourth time I've seen you guys together. If you're not careful, the other students might start thinking you're a couple."

Kazuma sighed and then replied, "Number one, I don't give a damn. Number two, why do you think I hang out with Matsuda and Motohama so much? They're amusing people in and of themselves, but with friends like them, a girlfriend like her is the last thing people would expect me to have."

Erza widened her eyes as she heard his comment, though Tatsuki gave her a nonverbal cue to just let the subject drop. To which Erza nodded slightly confused.

Trying to take the focus off Erza, Tatsuki added, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

Kazuma looked at her incredulously. "I'm not sure how or why but I feel like you just insulted me."

"Just your imagination," she answered dismissively.

Kazuma then turned to Erza and warned, "Be careful of Kiba's other friend though. While Kiba may be Prince Charming the other one's a hopeless playboy."

"Now, now, that's not very nice," a new voice added, "besides, I prefer mature women."

Everyone turned as a young man with short, dirty blonde hair and grey eyes wearing the Kuoh male uniform, though without the blazer and with rolled-up sleeves, walked over and sat down proudly.

Kazuma motioned to him and recited to Erza, "Meet Genshirou Saji, the biggest Kiba wannabe in the school."

Saji growled and shouted, "I am not a Kiba wannabe dammit! I aim for higher than the school body." He then turned to Erza and asked, "Regardless, how is the hot transfer student with you guys?"

Tatsuki jabbed, "Because Kazuma scooped her up."

Saji blinked in disbelief.

"Grr…" Kazuma snarled, "I told you it's not like that!"

Saji then bowed and added, "Despite what they have said, my name _is_ Genshirou Saji. The rest of their comments notwithstanding." Sado arrived moments later as Saji suddenly announced, "Alright! Since we're all finally here, and of course I being the most important one, we shall have a lunch party right here, right now, to celebrate Erza's entrance to our circle of friends!"

Kazuma just blinked dumbly at Saji's antics and then sighed as Sado sat down next to him.

Saji ignored the two and looked at Erza. "Right, so I'd like to say here and now that if you ever need anything I'm here for you."

Erza nodded with a smile and replied, "No thank you, I'm fine."

Saji sat down dejected. "Oh…okay."

Tatsuki lightly patted him on the back. "Don't worry, you'll get to be the hero next time."

"Oh shut up!"

Kazuma just smirked as the others conversed before turning to Sado. Blinking curiously he asked, "Uh, Chad, why are you covered in bandages?"

"A steel beam fell on my head and a motorcyclist ran into me."

The others merely stopped in shock, Saji remarking, "How can you say that so plainly?"

Kazuma just blinked and then asked in disbelief, "Geez, what're you made of? Mythril?"

Saji then leaned over and noticed the small bird next to Sado. He pointed at it and asked, "Uh, Chad, where'd you get the bird?"

"Hello, my name's Yuichi Shibata. Nice to meet you," the bird announced.

Kazuma and Erza both narrowed their eyes as they noticed something odd about the bird. That is, besides the fact that it could talk.

Saji looked at the bird astonished. "Whoa! You can talk?!"

"Yes," the bird answered plainly.

As Saji carried on a conversation with the bird, Kazuma turned to Sado. "So, Chad, where'd you get the bird?"

"Someone gave it to me."

Saji groaned as he looked away from the bird. "Aww, come on man. Don't cut your story short like that." Saji just moaned and returned to his conversation with the bird.

Erza narrowed her eyes and turned to Kazuma. "Do you notice something odd with that bird?"

Kazuma nodded. "Yeah, even I can see it. I don't know what that is yet but…something is definitely not right."

Nodding in agreement Erza replied, "Well, I don't think it's evil. Either way we'll need to perform Konso on it tonight."

Kazuma grumbled in annoyance. "Man, and I was hoping to not have any of that stuff to annoy me."

"Whining won't solve anything," Erza rebutted flatly. She then looked over to Sado and asked, "How did you meet Sado, if you don't mind me asking?"

Kazuma looked up in thought as he remembered and then answered, "Actually, I met him through Ichigo. In the school he and I used to go to Ichigo always got himself in trouble because of that bright orange hair of his. One day though, we got separated and Ichigo got himself cornered by a bunch of guys who were intent on smacking him down."

"You didn't try to help?" Erza wondered.

"Oh it would've been easy, but I would have killed those guys. Police are way too much of a hassle. And besides, if I had done that I'd have to kill them again as Hollows."

"You're multiple layers of lazy aren't you?" Erza deadpanned.

"Whatever you say." Kazuma then sighed as he continued recollecting the event. "And besides that, I also had a few grunts to handle myself and figured Ichigo could handle himself. Turns out I was wrong, seems the guys he got into a fight with were tougher than most. I tried to get over to him but before I could this huge guy came out of nowhere and took a powerful blow meant for Ichigo. The guy just stood there taking blow after blow after blow before eventually the mooks got tired and wandered off."

Erza listened intently.

"If you couldn't tell already, that guy was Sado."

Erza's eyes widened in surprise.

"To tell you the truth, I actually don't think I've ever seen Chad get into a fight where he actually fought back. He just stands there taking their beatings until somebody else stops them or the opponent gets tired."

"He sounds…rather odd."

"You have no idea how true that is."

* * *

After finishing lunch Kazuma managed to make it through the rest of the day without getting cornered by Sona, and proceeded to Ayame's restaurant to do his few hours of work for the night.

* * *

Yet again using his Thought Projections, Kazuma spent the early portion of the night making multiple meals at once, essentially using his copies to handle the work of an entire cooking staff, Kazuma prepared all of the meals being served to the guests.

However his progress was stopped when a specific person walked in the door of the restaurant.

Kazuma blinked curiously as Koneko walked in and looked at him with her usual emotionless gaze. "Uhm…yes…?"

"Mount Everest," she responded plainly.

Kazuma looked at her for a moment and then sighed. "Right, right. Just sit down, I'll have it right out."

Koneko flashed a momentary, miniscule smile before sitting down at a booth.

As Kazuma walked over to the kitchen, Hibiki walked up to him and tugged on his sleeve. Turning to her curiously he asked, "What is it?"

"That's the second girl in two days to come in wearing that same uniform. Isn't it also the same one from your school?" she asked.

Kazuma turned back to Koneko and then nodded. "Yeah, it's…kinda hard to explain. Anyway, she's here for the Mount Everest Challenge, so I'm going to get it ready."

"Really? Do all of your classmates just have massive sweet teeth?"

Kazuma shrugged as he walked through the door. "Dunno, but Serafall isn't in my school."

* * *

It was only a few moments later before Kazuma walked out to Koneko with the massive dessert in hand.

Koneko locked her eyes onto it in a very disturbing way as Kazuma brought it over to her. Setting it down and handing her a spoon, he warned, "Now just so you know, a girl a few years older than you required her sister to help finish it off, so I'll understand if…" Kazuma merely trailed off as he watched the rather petite girl seem to eat the dessert at a rate that would be difficult for those of adult size.

It took less than five minutes for the tiny girl to devour the entire towering dessert, leaving Kazuma, Hibiki, Hikari, and Ayame, along with many customers, flabbergasted. Kazuma looked over the young-looking girl and wondered, '_Where…where does it all go…?_'

Clearing her head, Ayame then informed Koneko of her winnings.

Koneko's face didn't change, but Kazuma could easily see the twinkle in her eyes that pretty much meant the next few days of his life would be rather annoying.

* * *

And how true that fear was.

While Kazuma expected the next few days would be annoying, he didn't expect to encounter something he had already.

Yet again he found that same woman lying on the sidewalk. '_Geez…you'd almost think she does this on purpose. Well…all the same I still can't leave her here._' Sighing to himself he picked the woman up and began to ferry her to the hospital.

A voice in Kazuma's head then remarked, **'_You know, she reminds me a lot of Cana, and that blonde woman from the Leaf…Tsunade I think it was._'**

'_Why don't you just hush, Ddraig?_' Kazuma then continued his walk, however, after a few minutes of walking Kazuma noticed a soft pressure against his chest. Stopping to look down he saw that the woman had become somewhat conscious again, although her bleary-eyed expression and noticeable inability to focus on him proved she was less than sober.

"Wait a…minute…don't take me…back to that…stinky hospital…" she droned out to him.

Kazuma blinked in bewilderment and then asked, "You…remember that?"

Smiling slyly, or as sly as someone as hammered as she was could muster, the woman remarked, "Of course. How could I forget such a helpful, handsome man? That ramen really does the trick in the morning but…" trailing off momentarily before snapping back awake, mostly, she continued, "could you take me…somewhere less stuffy than that hospital…?"

Kazuma sighed in frustration. "Not really. Only other place I could take you is an inn."

Giggling amusedly, she poked his chest lightly. "I was thinking more along the lines of…your…house…"

Kazuma raised an eyebrow and then groaned. "That's definitely out of the question. I don't need any…problems arising. It's safer for both of us if I take you to the hospital."

The woman looked at him puzzled and then frowned disappointed. "Come on…just the couch…it'll be better than those stuffy hospital rooms and beds…"

Kazuma grumbled in irritation.

Mavis tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "I think you've lost this one, Kazuma."

Kazuma sighed in agreement. He then turned to the woman and requested, "Well at least tell me your name first."

Smiling, she answered, "Kazehana."

* * *

Kazuma found himself back at his apartment shortly thereafter, the now identified Kazehana slumbering away in his arms.

He then proceeded to set Kazehana down in one of the extra rooms Erza's renovation provided, and then had to fight his way through rampant questioning about the situation from Erza herself.

After finishing off explaining the situation to Erza, the redhead seemed to accept it, begrudgingly.

"I don't need someone like her getting in the way. And more importantly _you_ don't need someone like her distracting you," Erza cautioned.

Looking at her deadpan, Kazuma asked, "Do you really think I'm _that_ bad?"

"Yes," she answered plainly.

Kazuma shrugged in response. '_Guess Alvin rubbed off on me more than I expected._' Motioning back to the room he remarked, "Though first thing I need to do is take that sake bottle from her."

Erza folded her arms incredulously and then just walked away with a sigh.

"She's really got you pegged, doesn't she?" Mavis asked playfully.

"Oh shut up," Kazuma shot back as he walked in to the sleeping Kazehana and took the bottle of sake from her. However, when he held it up he noticed something strange about it. He couldn't find the problem by looking at it so he sniffed it. "Hold on a sec…this…this isn't alcohol…it's…" Taking one sip to be safe he discovered what it truly was. "It's soda…so…she's not…actually drunk…?"

Mavis gasped and then giggled. "Wow, she really played you."

Kazuma blinked curiously and then looked at the bottle. "Yeah…but why?"

"Who knows? Maybe you can ask her in the morning."

Kazuma nodded puzzled and left the room, taking the bottle with him.

* * *

Kazehana suddenly ran out of her room the following morning looking for something frantically.

After a few minutes of loud rummaging Kazuma walked to the side area of the apartment complex where the room Kazehana was in was located.

"Looking for this?"

Kazehana turned to see Kazuma holding her bottle of "sake." Smiling in resignation she asked, "When did you figure it out?"

"When I took your 'sake' bottle from you at night so you wouldn't drink anymore and get yourself deeper into trouble. I noticed something odd about it."

Kazehana sighed and smirked at him, shrugging. "Well you got me, it seems."

Kazuma nodded and placed the bottle down. "So, why did you trick me?"

Kazehana giggled to herself and walked over to Kazuma, poking a finger at his chest. "I wanted to meet my White Knight."

Kazuma blinked curiously. "White Knight?"

Kazehana nodded in the affirmative. "Yes. The one who so kindly took me from that spot, passed out on the street, and into a hospital for safety, huhu, and even provided me a hangover cure so I wouldn't feel bad in the morning. I'd call that a white knight, wouldn't you?"

Kazuma looked at her curiously, gulping as her rather luscious orbs were pressing ever so lightly against his admittedly thin t-shirt. "Ah…well…I see. So that's why you did that?"

She nodded to him.

Kazuma then sighed and lightly bopped the well-endowed woman on the head. "Do you even realize how dangerous that was? What if I hadn't come when I did?"

Kazehana looked at Kazuma surprised and then smiled. "It doesn't matter. You did." Kazehana then began leaning towards Kazuma, pressing her bosom against his chest more firmly.

However, whatever was about to occur was interrupted by a loud crash from the kitchen.

Kazehana sighed in disappointment, and mild relief, before following Kazuma's bolt into the kitchen area.

* * *

Kazuma and Kazehana rounded the corner to see Kazuma's cat, Muffins, on the counter, eating some of the food he had laid out for breakfast.

Kazuma growled and stomped over to the cat. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"

The cat suddenly meowed loudly as Kazuma rushed over, slipping its back paw into the sink, lunging forward, smacking against the counter and then falling forward as its body was suddenly engulfed in thick smoke.

Kazuma gasped as the smoke surrounded him, the grunted as something much larger than a cat fell on top of him and landed him on the ground on his back.

As the smoke cleared Kazehana gasped in surprise.

Kazuma groaned as he shook off his disorientation when he noticed something soft, warm, and firm in his hand. As is natural he gave it a squeeze, eliciting a moan from the object's owner. It was then he saw her, a young woman with a voluptuous figure, and noticeably large breasts that had a hard time fitting into Kazuma's hands, long black hair with split bangs, and amber eyes with slit pupils, however what Kazuma noticed most was the fact that she had two cat tails at the base of her spine just above her shapely ass and a pair of fluffy cat ears atop her head. That, and the fact that she was completely naked on top of him. "WHAT THE HELL!?"

The young woman moaned awake as she seemed to come to. "Moouu…what happened, nya?"

Kazuma looked at her astonished as she sat up, before promptly falling over with a nosebleed.

The woman then blinked curiously and looked down and her eyes widened in concern and embarrassment. "Uh-oh…nya…"

* * *

**Well, that about does it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it and make sure to tell me what you think of it in a review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

**Hello everybody, hopefully the wait for this chapter wasn't too arduous. It also seems a fair bit of you enjoyed the last chapter, which is always good. Regardless of why I'm posting something or who I'm posting it for, people enjoying my work is always appreciated. I don't think there's too much to say here, aside from thanking my coauthor Bakuto Masaki, as per usual. So, I suppose it's time to move on to the reviewer responses now, so here goes.**

**N.673: Yes, it will be a massive harem.**

**TheLastNanaya: I kinda like her, though I more like how she looks after the timeskip. She wasn't actually drunk though, she was just pretending to be. That she did. Only time will tell, though there's no guarantee that Koneko will see her just yet. But yes, it's doubtful he'd be able to hide Kuroka's scent from Koneko's keen nose. That's Serafall for you. I suppose it is, though I do have a few surprises in store for further down the line, so don't think I've given Sona the short end of the stick. Well, technically I have but that's not the point. Now I'm just confusing myself. Yep, he did. Though there's a little more to it than you might think. Sometimes there isn't much action, but don't worry, there'll be plenty soon enough.**

**Leo Honoo: I do what I can. But writing takes time and this isn't the only story I'm working on at the moment. Plus I've also got my life in the outside world so I can't spend every waking moment on writing either.**

**Jose19: Kazuma is the central character, Ichigo is an important character though as well, just not as much as Kazuma. Both will have their own harems.**

**Master Attlon: Glad you enjoyed it and I'm glad Kazuma fits as a good character, that's what I strive for. I'm pleased to hear you say that, readers invested that much in a story are quite the treat.**

**Drednaught: Guess there's a first time for everything, isn't there?**

**Bakuto Masaki: Most of them guessed who "Muffins" really is it seems.**

**Well, I suppose that's it for the reviewer responses, so on with the show! Er, story.**

* * *

Kazuma sat at the dining table in his apartment with his arms folded and a frustrated, confused, and embarrassed expression all boiled into one on his face.

Across from him sat Kazehana looking rather guilty, next to her was the woman who had somehow transformed and disguised herself as a stray cat Kazuma had found on the side of the road and named "Muffins." She originally had appeared naked, though Kazuma was able to find a bath robe for her to wrap up in. Unfortunately, or fortunately he couldn't tell, the upper part of the robe was not quite big enough to contain the woman's bust, leaving much of it visible.

Kazuma sighed and asked, "So…your name is Kuroka, correct?"

The black-haired cat-girl nodded in response. "Yes, my name is Kuroka, nya."

"And you transformed yourself into a cat, a cat that I named?"

"Yes, nya."

Kazuma just sighed and moaned in frustration. "Geez, this is weirder than the time Presa turned into a fox. Anyway, one thing I'd like to know is why you did that."

"It's a secret, nya," Kuroka answered happily.

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. "I see. Well, I suppose your cover or whatever has been blown, so what will you do now?"

Kuroka wagged her tails around as she looked up in thought. She then turned to Kazuma with a smirk. "I think I'll stay here for a little while, nya. I like it here, nya."

"That so? Oh boy…this is getting…interesting. How about you Kazehana?"

Kazehana waved a hand with a weak laugh. "Don't worry, I have an apartment to go back to. Though I have to admit this is rather nice."

"Good, I'm already going to catch hell for this."

Kuroka giggled playfully, "You mean from that Soul Reaper? You're not actually scared of her, are you, Abra-?"

"Quiet," Kazuma suddenly snapped.

Kazehana and Kuroka sat up straight in surprise at his sudden mood change.

"Don't call me that. I am Kazuma Soryu, that other person is dead."

Kuroka again giggled in amusement. "This _is_ going to be fun, nya."

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. "You're going to frustrate me…aren't you?"

"Ufufu, nya."

Kazuma just sighed before turning to Kazehana. "So, do you intend to stick around?"

"I can if you want," Kazehana responded.

"Nothing personal but I'm not interested in catching flak from either Erza or the landlord, he was already pissed enough when this place got remodeled. The last thing I need is you getting yourself in trouble 'cuz of this."

Kazehana looked at him curiously. "Don't you mean you getting in trouble?"

Kazuma shook his head. "The landlord hates my guts already, the only reason he doesn't say much is because I pay extra on the rent. Though you I'm certain he'd find a way to make trouble for, so it's probably in your best interest to get going."

Kazehana smiled lightly at Kazuma before bowing and leaving.

Kazuma then turned to Kuroka. "And then there were two. So, do you plan on staying in this form?"

Kuroka sauntered over to Kazuma and put a hand on his chest. "I'll stay in whatever form you want, nya."

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow as his face turned slightly red. "Ah, well…like I said to Kazehana, things would get annoying if you were discovered, so staying in your cat form is probably best."

Kuroka nodded then frowned playfully. "I was hoping we'd get to play more, nya." After a burst of smoke she vanished and then turned into her cat form, the robe Kazuma gave her falling to the floor.

Kazuma and bent down to get it, right as Kuroka suddenly transformed back to her human form, giving Kazuma an eyeful of something important.

"Gah!" he shouted before falling backward, yet again unconscious.

"Ufufufufu, nya."

* * *

Kazuma managed to get to school without collapsing again, having finally convinced Kuroka to keep herself hidden around anyone besides himself, despite him preferring she stayed hidden all the time for his own sake.

Upon arrival he was again accosted by his two friends Matsuda and Motohama.

"Dude, what happened?!" Matsuda demanded.

Kazuma chuckled weakly. "Sorry, I got hung up with something rather annoying."

Motohama adjusted his glasses curiously. "What could be so important that you'd skip porn?"

"Just stuff and things. Don't worry about it. If you just drop it, I promise I'll show up tonight and I'll have something special."

That caused Motohama and Matsuda to beam.

One thing they would always admit about Kazuma is he managed to find the best porn and seemed to know the best places to find it.

So with that in mind they left Kazuma alone as he made his way to the actual school building.

* * *

When Kazuma arrived in the classroom he sincerely hoped Erza had no sense of what had happened to him earlier that morning, with some of the women he used to know it wasn't a farfetched concern.

Fortunately she didn't seem to notice as she merely greeted him with a wave, before complaining about him being late.

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. "I had a rough morning…let's just leave it at that."

Erza raised a curious eyebrow and then shrugged. "So be it. In any event, I have something important I want your help with."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow curiously. "Oh? Like what?"

Erza turned to him with a serious expression and said sternly. "Meat buns."

Kazuma looked at her in disbelief and then sighed.

* * *

Kazuma and Erza left the classroom during the lunch break.

As they walked, Kazuma asked, "So why are you so interested in trying a meat bun?"

Nodding, Erza responded, "It's a food item that was not around while I was alive, so I wish to try it."

Kazuma blinked curiously and then chuckled. '_Geez, it's Milla all over again,_' he though in amusement.

After a few more moments Kazuma turned and looked ahead, his blood running cold and his eyes widening.

Erza raised an eyebrow and looked ahead to see Rias and Akeno approaching. Erza was about ask what was bothering Kazuma when he suddenly grabbed her by the wrist and bolted into a hallway nearby.

Rias and Akeno passed by without seeming to notice them in the hallway, however Rias subtly frowned as they walked by.

After a few moments Kazuma leaned out and sighed in relief. '_Good…she's gone. She…she can't be Chiaki can she…?_'

"Eh…" Erza squeaked in a flustered voice.

Kazuma turned to her puzzled and looked down, realizing his right hand had landed squarely on Erza's left breast.

Erza began to clench her fists and began to growl.

Kazuma sweat as he processed where his hand was. '_Wait…hang on…just…let me get one…_'

He then squeezed.

"GGAAAHHH!" resounded through the school building.

* * *

Kazuma made his way down to the nurse's office to have his arm checked out, even with his superb regeneration the kind of damage Erza inflicted is quite painful, though it was mainly to get a few painkillers.

However, this seemed to be sidelined when he walked in and saw the nurse, Shizuka Marikawa, a very tall buxom woman with long blonde hair that extended down past her waist, several bangs going down into her face, with two long bangs extending as long as the rest of her hair and framing her face, hazel eyes, wearing a white shirt with long sleeves and a brown skirt, though her height was hidden due to the fact that she was at that moment slumped over a table using her own excessively large breasts, even larger than Akeno's, as pillows.

Kazuma couldn't help but smirk as he observed the scene. '_I can always expect Shizuka to help me feel happier. Those boobs don't hurt._'

**'_Ahem._'**

'_Right, right,_' he remarked with a sigh and walked over to her. "Erm, nurse Marikawa?"

She was unresponsive.

Kazuma tried shaking her shoulder.

Nothing.

He then got an idea and smirked. '_Well, I highly doubt she'd do anything like Erza._' Using his non-shattered arm, he reached over, and poked one of her breasts.

Shizuka released a light moan with a small blush, before opening her eyes slowly and seeing Kazuma standing beside her. Sitting up slowly and looking at Kazuma sleepily, she asked groggily, "Oh…Kazuma, what do you need?"

Kazuma chuckled weakly and pointed to his arm. "I could use some uh, painkillers. My arm hurts a little bit."

* * *

Shizuka examined Kazuma's arm and gasped. "Oh my, I've never seen an arm fractured in so many places."

Kazuma chuckled uneasily, trying to ignore the pain her examination caused. "Yeah…I had a little…accident."

Shizuka nodded and then asked with a small smile. "You finally got caught peeping, didn't you?"

Kazuma smiled wryly. "I'd never peep, you should know that."

Shizuka nodded in playful agreement, though somewhat masked by her still sleepy state, and examined his arm one more time out curiosity and widened her eyes slightly. '_Strange, I can already feel some of the pieces fusing together. That's too fast for a human._'

Kazuma looked at her curiously and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Shizuka looked at him plainly for a second and then shook her head, regaining her drowsy expression, and answered, "No, it's nothing. I can give you some pain medicine, it should help for a little while."

Kazuma nodded as she gave him a few basic pills. He then frowned. '_Shit. These kind won't work. Well whatever._'

"So is that all?"

Kazuma nodded and left the room.

As Kazuma walked out Shizuka's expression changed from sleepy contentedness to assertive curiosity. "He couldn't be a…no, that's not possible. Either way, I should tell Lord Gremory."

* * *

Kazuma downed the pills and then thought, _'Yo, Ddraig, think you could try and make those work?_'

**'_With your biology? I can try but I'm a dragon, not a miracle worker._'**

'_Hey, at least I don't have Masakados in me anymore._'

**'_…True._'**

* * *

The remainder of the day passed with some tension, Kazuma still feeling an angry gaze from Erza, though by the end of the day it seemed to have passed.

As they approached the gate on the way out of the school, Kazuma asked weakly, "So…you still hate me?"

Erza folded her arms in a huff. "I can't say I do, though I was rather surprised."

Kazuma chuckled weakly, "Yeah, I'd say surprise is one way of putting it."

Erza then frowned with a slight blush. "Although…how is your arm?"

Kazuma flexed his arm, now fully healed, and grinned. "Doin' just fine."

Erza nodded in acceptance as they left the school building.

* * *

As they walked away, Shizuka stood in the window of the nurse's office with a red-haired man standing next to her.

He smirked as the two left. "So, those are the two, hmm?"

Shizuka nodded in agreement, a studious expression steeled on her face. "Yes. I don't believe the man is human, it helps that Sona Sitri has been trying to recruit him. So, will you tell her, Lord Gremory?"

The man, Lord Gremory, shook his head. "If I did she'd want to kill me."

Shizuka looked at him curiously and chuckled. "That does sound like your daughter."

* * *

As Kazuma and Erza walked away from the school they bumped into Ichigo on his way home as well.

Erza bowed to him. "Good to see you, Kurosaki."

Ichigo nodded in return, slightly perplexed. "Ah, yeah, hey, Erza. Just Ichigo's fine." He then turned to Kazuma. "Hey, did you see Chad at all today?"

Kazuma shook his head. "No, I haven't now that I think about it."

Ichigo folded his arms in thought. "Well, whatever, I'm sure I'll see him later. Anyway, Yuzu's making a special dinner tonight, and she has no sense of portions."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow curiously. "You asking us over for dinner?"

"Yeah, if you don't want to it's fine."

Kazuma looked over at Erza and thought, '_It'd give me time to come up with a way around this._' He then nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Erza nodded in agreement.

* * *

Kazuma, Erza, and Ichigo arrived at Ichigo's house shortly later and upon arrival Ichigo was knocked over by someone.

The person in question was a girl with short black hair straight and cropped around her shoulders, Ichigo's sister Karin Kurosaki.

On the other side was a girl with short, light brown hair with bangs hanging over the right side of her forehead, and grey eyes with a red hairclip on the other side of her hair, Yuzu Kurosaki.

Both were wearing pink nurse uniforms as they held up by the arm someone the entire group recognized, Yasutora Sado.

"Ch-Chad!?" Kazuma said in surprise.

Sado turned to Kazuma weakly. "Oh, Kazuma. Hey."

"What the hell happened to you?"

A new voice added, "There was a car accident nearby." Kazuma turned and saw a tall, muscular, man who appeared to be in his forties with spiky black hair, brown eyes, and a scruffy beard wearing a doctor's uniform.

Ichigo turned and regarded the man. "Yo, Dad. I'm surprised you didn't kick me this time."

Ichigo's father, Isshin Kurosaki, adjusted his tie and responded plainly, "Well this is serious business so…" he trailed off as he saw Erza. He blinked curiously before his eyes widened and he suddenly screamed before curling up in a corner.

Erza looked at him puzzled. "Uhm, do I know you?"

The man froze mid-scream for a moment before blinking curiously. He then stood up and regained almost all of his composure, his voice cracking for a moment as he responded, "Ah, er, n-no. Not at all…"

Kazuma raised an eyebrow before hearing a familiar voice in his head.

**'_Ugh…what's that noise?_'**

'_Oh hey, look who's up. It was nothing major, just a grown man screaming like a little girl._'

**'_What? Why?_'**

Wordlessly Kazuma turned to Erza.

**'_Buh…GGGAAAHHH!_'**

Kazuma clutched his head in pain.

Erza turned to him in concern, "Kazuma?"

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow in pain. "It's…nothing. Just a headache."

Erza tilted her head but nodded in understanding.

After sighing Kazuma asked, '_What the hell was that?_'

**'_What're you doing with _her_?!_'**

'_Uhm…last time I checked…I thought you knew she was here?_'

**'_I can only read your thoughts that are happening right now, I can't read your memories._'**

'_Oh…well that's odd._'

**'_Though why are you with her?_'**

'_I don't really have time to explain right now. Why are you so scared anyway?_'

**'_Because she's scary!_'**

'_Whatever…_'

Kazuma then turned to Sado in bewilderment. "So what happened to you anyway?"

As Karin and Yuzu set him down, Karin groaning about how heavy he is, Sado answered, "I was hit by a car."

Kazuma face-palmed lightly and shook his head. "The fact that you can say that so plainly makes me think you're made of the same stuff as Ivar."

"Who?"

Kazuma waved a hand dismissively. "Not important." He then raised an eyebrow. '_Wait…this couldn't have anything to do with that bird could it?_'

"Can I help with anything?" Ichigo asked.

His father responded, "Not really, just curl up in the fetal position and stay out of the way."

Ichigo twitched an eyebrow and mumbled, "Should you really be saying that after you were doing the same thing just now…?"

Isshin then examined Sado's wounds and began treating them.

Sado turned to Isshin and remarked, "Thanks Doc, but I'm really fine now."

Isshin grumbled and lightly tapped Sado's back, getting a pained grunt from the tall teen. "No. You're not. You're pretty beat up, so I need to fix you up."

As Isshin treated Sado, Kazuma narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He then turned to Erza. "Do you feel it?"

Erza nodded in agreement. "Yes. I felt it before even walking in here. It reeks of Hollows."

Ichigo looked at them puzzled. "What're you guys talking about?"

Kazuma shook his head. "Just something that happened earlier. Hey, make sure your dad treats Sado properly, alright? Erza and I are gonna head home since it looks like you guys'll be busy tonight."

Ichigo nodded and scratched his head. "Yeah. Well that was a waste. See you guys later."

Kazuma nodded and Erza bowed before the two left.

* * *

As they walked home Erza asked bluntly, "You plan on telling me why there are traces of Nekomata energy on you?"

Kazuma froze in place. "Ahh crap." He then turned to Erza. "I can't hide a damn thing from you, can I?"

Erza turned to him with folded arms. "You couldn't hide _that_ from anyone, I'm sure even Ichigo would've noticed it."

Kazuma looked at her puzzled. "Oh, then what specifically are you talking about?"

Erza reached out and poked the center of his chest. "You've got a mark right there, concentrated Nekomata energy. So, care to explain?"

Kazuma began sweat slightly. "Ah…well…remember that stray cat I found…?"

Erza raised an eyebrow and then sighed. "Unbelievable. I should've been able to recognize it. You got rid of it right?"

Kazuma flinched.

"It's still there!?" Erza then started running.

'_Oh boy…she sure seems angry._'

**'_And now you are going to die,_'** Ddraig remarked plainly.

'_I hope not. I died a few times before, it's not very fun._'

* * *

Erza immediately burst into the apartment and saw "Muffins" sitting on the table, who then meowed at her.

Kazuma walked in, out of breath, behind her and looked at her. "The gig is up, she found out."

After a moment the cat burst into smoke before Kuroka appeared from it, strangely enough fully-clothed.

Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. '_And she was naked before…because why…?_'

Kuroka looked at Erza and giggled in amusement. "So, how did you find out?"

Erza narrowed her eyes angrily at the Nekomata. "That mark you placed on him was a dead giveaway."

Kuroka swished her tails behind confused. "Me? I didn't do it." She then looked at Kazuma and walked over to him, proceeding to sniff the mark on his chest, confusing both Kazuma and Erza, making the latter quite annoyed. Kuroka then raised an eyebrow and snickered with amusement. "My, my, it seems you've found her. My little Shirone."

Kazuma blinked in confusion. "Shirone?"

"Yes, the name of my little sister. I haven't seen her in quite a while. I'm surprised you met her."

Kazuma folded his arms in thought. "I can't think of anyone I know by that name."

Erza sighed and then garnered Kuroka's attention. "Alright, I'd appreciate an explanation. Who are you and why did you disguise yourself and sneak into Kazuma's house like this?"

Kazuma looked at her flatly. "Oh? This coming from you miss wall-breaker?"

Erza immediately knocked him in the head, although never took her focus off Kuroka.

Kuroka nodded and responded playfully, "Well, I can't tell you that, it's a secret. But I will tell you it was nothing mean."

Erza narrowed her eyes suspiciously. After a moment she folded her arms and nodded. "I can't say I believe you, but I certainly don't sense any malicious intent from you. As long you don't do anything suspicious it should be fine."

Kuroka nodded and then turned to Kazuma with an amused smile. "So, since she knows, how do you want me to look?"

Kazuma blinked curiously. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

"Do you want me to stay in my cat form, or do you prefer me like this?" Accentuating her current form she lightly ran her hands down her sides.

"Like this," Kazuma answered instantly and plainly.

"Too fast!" Erza grumbled in surprise.

Kuroka giggled and nodded. "If you say so. Besides, it's more comfortable like this."

Erza twitched an eyebrow. '_This one…she's too much like _her.'

Kazuma then sighed to himself. '_You know…I should be happy about this. I'm now living with two busty babes, and yet all I can think is that things are going to get annoying._'

**'_Even I could tell you that._'**

'_You are not helping._'

* * *

The next day Kazuma allowed himself to wake up late since there wasn't any school that day, however he noticed he felt rather heavy. Moaning as he awoke he couldn't understand why his body felt as heavy as it was. He then looked around and found the source on his right side, wrapped in his arm, Kuroka.

He twitched an eyebrow in thought. '_Hmm…_' He then scrunched his arm up and closed his eyes. '_Well…not much I can really do in this situation. Guess I'll just wait until she wakes up._'

**'_What happened to feeling annoyed about this last night?_'**

'_I didn't have a massive pair of boobs pressed against my side. Now I do. I'm good._'

Ddraig just sighed and allowed Kazuma to continue sleeping. Besides, if Kazuma did get up he'd see Erza.

However, Kazuma's plans to spend the morning with doughy goodness against his side was interrupted when the door to his room suddenly burst open.

Sitting up instantly, knocking the bewildered and sleepy Kuroka to the floor in confusion, Kazuma argued hurriedly, "I wasn't doing anything I swear!"

Erza looked at him confused. "What?"

"What?"

She then looked down and saw the dazed Kuroka sprawled out on the floor. She then looked at Kazuma incredulously. Erza shook her head and then asserted, "That's not important right now, apparently Sado's gone missing."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow as Kuroka sat up groggily. "Okay, so?"

"His wounds never fully healed. Mr. Kurosaki just called and asked if we had seen him. If it's true he lives alone then there's no one else to find him."

Kazuma stretched his shoulders as he listened. "I'm still waiting for where this has anything to do with us."

"Did you forget about all of the obvious Hollow activity around Sado?"

Kazuma stopped for a moment and then turned to Erza with a plain expression. He then sighed and nodded. "Right, right. Well, guess it's time to get to work?"

Erza nodded as she put on her glove with the skull and punched Kazuma's soul out.

Flexing his neck as Mavis took over his body Kazuma remarked. "Well, time to get going I suppose."

Erza nodded and then asked, "But how will we find him?"

Kazuma put a hand on his chin in thought and then asked, "What about his bird?"

Erza shook her head. "No, I doubt that would help. And we need to find him fast because I'm certain he's in danger of having his soul eaten."

Kazuma snarled in annoyance and then raised an eyebrow in thought. He then turned and ran past Erza.

"Wait!" Erza shouted trying to stop him. "What is he thinking?"

Kuroka then asked, "So, is he a Soul Reaper now, nya?"

Erza looked at her annoyed. "You can't honestly say you didn't know."

Kuroka shrugged. "I suppose, nya. So, where are we headed, nya?"

Erza twitched an eyebrow. "_We_?"

"You did say you wanted me sticking around, right, nya?"

Erza looked at her angrily and Mavis, inside Kazuma's body, nodded. "She does have a point."

Erza sighed and ran out the door with the others behind her.

As they ran through the halls to the outside Erza thought, '_This feeling…what is it…?_'

* * *

Back at the construction area where Sado had originally received his pet bird, Sado sat with the bird, Yuichi in front of him, his injuries flaring up on his back.

Yuichi looked down sadly and then looked up at Sado. "I'm sorry. I lied to you. The truth is…everyone who has ever owned me has bad luck."

"I know," Sado responded plainly.

Yuichi looked at him and then apologized again.

"It's okay."

"Listen, mister, you should just leave me alone and get away. You're in danger."

Sado shook his head. "No. I can't do that."

Yuichi looked at him concerned.

* * *

As Kazuma, Erza, Mavis, in Kazuma's body, and Kuroka followed the trail of Sado's bird, Erza remarked, "I'm surprised you can sense the soul of a mere bird this far away."

Kazuma glanced at Erza and then asked, "So you haven't realized it yet?"

Erza raised an eyebrow and retorted, "Realized what?"

"Let's just say a friend has told me that bird's not a bird."

"What?!"

"Somehow, the soul of a human was put inside the bird."

"How do you know this?" Erza asked incredulously.

"A friend."

Erza frowned in suspicion but nodded in agreement. "Fine."

Kazuma narrowed his eyes and then looked around. "Damn, where are all these ribbons coming from?"

Erza's eyes widened. '_Spirit Ribbons? Is he truly able to see them?_'

* * *

As Sado sat with Yuichi, the bird suddenly began acting wild. "You must get out of here! You're in danger!"

Sado picked up the cage and replied, "I can handle it."

Suddenly there was a large crash beside Sado, causing him to immediately jump to the side.

Sado ran towards the nearby window and looked down at Yuichi. "Don't worry, it'll be okay." He then jumped out the window out of the building.

Fortunately he was on the first floor.

* * *

As the group ran towards where Sado and Yuichi were running Erza looked down at her hand and noticed she was running behind the others. She hissed in annoyance. '_My Gigai is getting horrible. This won't work much longer._'

Kazuma then stopped and looked around as they approached a fork in the road.

"Is something wrong?" Erza asked.

Kazuma snarled in frustration. "Dammit, there are so many of these damn ribbons I can't tell which to follow."

Erza nodded and then suggested, "Then let's split up. I'll take this path and you go down that one."

Kazuma frowned in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am, I'm no weakling," Erza responded annoyed.

Kazuma nodded. "Yeah, but you've lost most of your powers. Just…don't do anything stupid."

Erza smirked in response. "I'll be fine." She then took off down her selected path.

Kazuma then turned to Kuroka. "Why don't you go with her?"

Kuroka shook her head as she put a hand under her chin. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

Kazuma narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "How about just this once you don't make things annoying?"

Kuroka looked at him curiously and then giggled in amusement. "I suppose I can't refuse such an earnest request." She then turned into a cat and chased after Erza.

Kazuma then sighed and looked around. "So, you found him yet?"

A voice only Kazuma could hear, but that wasn't Ddraig's, responded.

"Damn."

* * *

As Erza continued running she stopped and flinched. "Damn, it's really locking up."

**"Mmm…you smell good. Soul Reaper."**

Erza turned and looked up to see a large, humanoid Hollow with dark green skin and markings on his torso, a furry brown collar over his neck, a tall square skull-mask. He immediately jumped down and grabbed Erza by the leg.

"Damn!"

**"You smell delicious."**

Erza pulled a leg back and kicked the Hollow's arm and freed herself from its grasp.

The Hollow snickered in amusement. **"Heh, heh. You're tougher than I thought. Though the fact that you can see me is rather curious."**

Erza then jumped up to the Hollow and slammed a knee into his chin.

**"Gagh!"**

Erza then spun around to the Hollow's back and raised her hand in front of her. "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado Thirty-One! Shakkaho!" A ball of red energy collected in front of her hand and hit the Hollow on the back of the neck. Erza then landed on the ground with a smirk. '_My powers, they're back!_'

Kuroka in cat form sat above her nearby. '_My, my, seems she's coming back into her powers, nya._'

* * *

Sado, who was still nearby with Yuichi, when the bird spoke to him again, "That Soul Reaper, he's fighting her. It's going to hurt her."

Sado turned to see Erza and frowned. "Stay here. I'm going to help her."

"Wait! No! Don't go!"

Sado ignored him as he ran towards Erza and the Hollow.

* * *

Erza looked at the Hollow confused. It then chuckled. **"Heh, heh. So, you're a Soul Reaper, if that spell is any indication. Although, your attack was so weak it had no _bite_."**

Erza clenched her fists angrily. '_No, they're not fully regenerated._'

The Hollow's eyes then widened in realization. **"Ah-hah! You've lost your powers, haven't you!? Then you'll be no problem at all to devour. In fact, you'll be the third Soul Reaper I've eaten. I've already devoured two other Soul Reapers who tried to help that boy. And they were mighty good eating."**

Erza glared at the Hollow and demanded, "Why are you chasing that boy's soul?"

**"Hmm…I might be more inclined to give you an answer if you gave me a little nibble."**

"You piece of Hollow scum."

The Hollow bellowed in laughter.

* * *

Kazuma continued running in search of the bird. His eyes then widened. "What!? Why didn't you tell me before?!" He snarled and then jumped up and to the side.

* * *

**"If you let me eat your soul, I'll tell you everything you want to know."**

Erza sneered and jumped up, kneeing the Hollow in the face before jumping in the air and concentrating energy in front of her hand. Another blast of energy flying at its face, with little effect. '_No…have my powers truly not returned yet…?_'

* * *

Kazuma jumped towards Erza's location, unconcerned since he was in Soul Reaper form, hoping to make it to where she was swiftly. '_Damn…she's fighting that thing? This is like Fort Gandala all over again._'

**'_Hopefully this ends differently than that time._'**

* * *

Erza grunted as the Hollow slammed her against a wall, clenching his fist around her torso. **"Come now, Soul Reaper. Make this more interesting, shed that human shell. Allow me to have some more-blergh!"**

The Hollow grunted as something slammed into the side of his face hard, forcing him to release Erza and causing him to slide back several feet.

Sado stood next to Erza with an outstretched arm.

Erza looked at him in shock. '_Can he see the Hollow?_'

Sado then turned and started punching the air nearby.

'_I-I guess not…_'

The Hollow rubbed his bruised cheek as he looked at Sado. **"Merely a lucky punch? Good that means this'll-gack!"**

Sado looked ahead as the Hollow fell over, though he couldn't see that. "Hey, I hit something."

Erza only looked at Sado puzzled. '_He can hear the Hollow, but he can't see it. How? And if he can, how can he so calmly and fearlessly fight something he can't even see?_'

The Hollow snarled angrily at Sado's action. He then extended his arms out as large, bat-like wings extended from his forearms. After that he leapt high into the air. **"Hahahah, try hitting me now human! The greatest weakness you humans and Soul Reapers have against me is that _I_ can fly, you can never hit me!"**

Erza's widened and she shouted, "Chad! Get out of here! You can't hit him!"

Sado blinked and then looked at Erza. "Hey, transfer student, can you see ghosts?"

Erza looked at him puzzled. "That is unimportant, right now we can't hit him when he's airborne."

Sado nodded and then wrapped his hands around a telephone pole. "You just tell me where he is, I'll handle the rest." He then grunted as he tore the telephone pole right out of the ground and hoisted it up as a battering ram.

**"Heh, heh, I bet you simpletons are so embarrassed and ashamed you cannot strike me-…eh?"** The Hollow merely gaped as Sado swung from above, hitting him atop the head with the telephone pole, knocking him to the ground according to Erza's directions.

With the Hollow pinned to the ground, Erza walked up to it and stared down at the pinned beast. "Just give it up right now. Someone with the ability to kill you is coming, and he won't fail."

The Hollow snickered and then laughed outright, pushing the pole off and standing up on all four limbs before looking down at the unphased Erza. **"And now you should see it. The reason why you Soul Reapers always fail against me. You always underestimate me, and get yourselves killed."**

The Hollow's collar began to shake when small blue-green, frog-like creatures with brown spots appeared and then lunged at Erza and Sado, somehow pinning them to the ground.

Erza attempted to lift herself up and fumed. '_Damn…if only I still had my magic…_'

The Hollow then looked between Sado and Erza and nodded to himself. **"Yes, I shall eat you first, Soul Reaper."**

Sado then stood with effort and proceeded to flex his muscles, causing the creatures to go flying off his body.

**"Oh what the hell are you!? Do you plan on letting your muscles do the tal-guhurk!"**

He was interrupted yet again from a punch from Sado.

**"Would you stop interrupting me!?"**

Sado began punching the air aimlessly again.

The Hollow narrowed its beady yellow eyes and remarked, **"As annoying as you are, I must say your intuition is astonishing."**

Erza then ordered Sado, "Chad, kick directly above me."

Sado listened for a moment and then did so, sent a powerful side-kick that sent the small creatures on her back flying away.

The Hollow sneered and once again took to the skies.

Erza looked at the Hollow and then remembered an event from her past.

* * *

_ Erza stood in a ruined landscape alongside a young man with spiky blonde hair and a tall, muscular bald man. All three stood across from a woman with long white hair floating in the sky above._

_The blonde man raised both hands and an invisible force enveloped the floating woman and held her still while the large man threw a long, spiraling sword at her, Erza hitting it from behind with a blast of energy to speed it up, impaling the woman floating above._

* * *

Sado listened to Erza's idea and nodded, picking up the large telephone pole he had been using to beat the Hollow with and readied to throw it, with Erza prepared to fire a blast of energy behind it.

Erza frowned and grumbled, "This would be easier if we could bind that Hollow first."

"You know, if you need some help, I'd be willing to offer, nya."

Sado and Erza turned to see Kuroka standing nearby, though Sado was certainly more confused than Erza.

"Uhm…why is there a woman with cat ears here?" Sado asked puzzled.

"Don't ask," Erza responded. She then turned to Kuroka and asked, "Are you able to use binding spells?"

Kuroka smiled playfully as her twin tails swayed behind her. "I may know a few, nya."

Erza nodded and then looked at the Hollow, then frowned.

"Don't worry, nya. I can see our friend just fine, nya."

Erza looked at her slightly surprised but then nodded as she raised her hand behind the pole Sado held.

Kuroka looked up at the Hollow with a smirk and made several different hand motions.

As the Hollow floated in the sky he suddenly froze and grunted angrily. **"H-hey! What do you think you're doing to me!?"** He continued growling and snarling as he tried fruitlessly to escape Kuroka's binding spell.

Sado then asked, "You sure this will work? This seems a little dumb."

"It will," Erza hushed, "Combining my abilities with your strength will work on this creature. Now, aim that in the tiger direction."

"What?" he asked puzzled.

"She means left, nya."

"Oh." Sado curled back and then launched the huge spike of wood into the air, Erza firing a blast of energy from behind it that sent it surging forward.

"Now surrender!" Erza demanded of the Hollow.

The Hollow's eyes widened as he answered fearfully, **"I surrender!"** He then snickered. **"Not!"** Another of the small creatures appeared on his shoulder and launched a stream of purple, leech-like creatures bathed in green fluid that hit the pole. **"Let me show you why I'm called Shrieker."** Shrieker stuck out his forked tongue and it began to vibrate, releasing a pulse of sound waves that caused the small purple leeches to then explode, spewing acid that melted the pole before it could reach the Hollow.

The group of three froze in shock.

Erza then snarled angrily. "This…isn't good."

Sado was the most surprised. "What just happened…?"

Kuroka answered, "It seems our friend has a few tricks up his sleeve, nya."

Sado frowned and walked up to Shrieker sternly. "I'm going to fight you one on one now."

Shrieker looked at him curiously. **"Oh? You can't even see me. Besides, you wouldn't want your little birdy hurt, would you?"**

Sado then noticed Yuichi nearby, though he couldn't see the creature on top of it.

Yuichi looked at Sado sadly. "I'm sorry mister, I got captured."

Shrieker then turned to Erza. **"Now, if the human and cat woman want to stay out of the way, start running around, Ms. Soul Reaper. So I can have more fun hunting you alone."**

Erza sneered and turned to Sado. "Chad, stand still or what happened to that pole will happen to the birdcage."

**"Heh, heh. Good girl. That goes for you too, cat ears. Don't move or I'll kill this little birdy."**

Kuroka frowned as Erza asserted, "It's alright. I promised not to slip up, so this will only be part of it."

Kuroka then chuckled. "And here I was told to give you a hand, nya."

Erza nodded with a thankful smile before turning and taking off away, Shrieker hopping into the air to pursue her.

Erza continued running as the frog creatures reached her and fired more leeches at her. She managed to jump in the air to avoid them but found herself covered in them from another direction.

Shrieker then vibrated his tongue, causing the leeches to detonate again as Erza hit the ground.

She winced before looking at her arms and legs and seeing that she was starting to bleed.

Shrieker then snickered happily. **"I like the cute blood-stained look." **He then sent out more of his minions which fired more leeches at her.

Erza dodged the onslaught of attacks as she sped from him.

Shrieker chuckled in amusement. **"So just how long do you plan on running? You know, if you like, you can attack me."**

Erza then stopped near a fence.

Shrieker chuckled as his creatures prepared to attack. **"So, finally giving up?"**

Erza smirked. "No, I merely have no more reason to run."

Suddenly a barrage of long needles made of electricity shot from above and impaled Shrieker's creatures, killing them all.

**"What!?"**

Kazuma walked over to Erza and asked, "You alright?"

Erza nodded. "Yes, but watch out, he's got more than a few tricks."

Kazuma glanced back at Shrieker. "I couldn't care less."

Shrieker howled angrily and charged at Kazuma.

Kazuma simply responded bluntly, "You're not worth the effort."

Shrieker himself was then encased in a pillar of ice, though still able to see and hear.

Kazuma then remarked, "Celsius, Volt, deal with him."

Two figures then appeared next to him.

On his left was a young-looking woman with pale-grey skin, red eyes, and ice blue hair that extended down to her shoulders in icicle shapes with a black, one-piece outfit that was sleeveless and lacked a right leg with a partial skirt that was white with hexagonal designs and blue lines on it, a long glove of a similar design on her left arm, ice-like pieces on the sides of her head and as an eyepatch over her left eye, and short boots with wide bronze tops.

On his right was a young-looking man with fair skin, wild, light-brown hair, and pink eyes who wore a single black one-piece with purple circuitry designs on it that exposed his right arm and right leg, a black tunic that extended to just above his knees, a black shoulder cape with yellow lightning bolt designs that extended down to the ground with large hands on the ends that he seemed to have control over, a lone black shoe on his right foot with the same design as his outfit, a black eyepatch with purple circuitry patterns on it and a large golden ring floating behind him with six circle with spiral patterns on them.

Kazuma looked at them and ordered, "Celsius, Volt, make this quick."

The woman, Celsius, nodded with an emotionless expression. "Yes, master."

Volt, the young man nodded silently, before responding, "Bzzt, bzzt."

Shrieker managed to use his vibrating tongue to break the ice before sending out more of his minions.

Volt raised a hand and fried all of Shrieker's minions before Shrieker himself flew into the air.

**"Let's see you hit me now!"** Shrieker taunted.

Both Volt and Celsius flew up into the air.

**"…Eh…?"**

Celsius raised her arm and fired a barrage of ice spikes that Shrieker dodged before Volt appeared in front of him.

**"Ah damn."**

Volt's large arms raised above his head and slammed Shrieker down to the ground with great force, kicking up dirt and debris as he crashed.

Erza was amazed as she watched Celsius and Volt return to his side. "Kazuma…who are they?"

Kazuma walked towards Shrieker with the two by his side. "Volt and Celsius, two of the Great Spirits."

Shrieker looked up at Kazuma and the Spirits beside him. **"What…the hell are you…?"**

Kazuma frowned in annoyance. "None of your concern." Kazuma then glanced to the side as he noticed Sado running up to the group holding Yuichi's cage.

Sado looked around and just noticed Erza standing by herself. "What's going on?"

Erza looked at Sado, surprised that he showed up, and then back to Kazuma and the others. "Kazuma's fighting."

"Fighting? Where?"

Erza shook her head and then instructed, "Just take the bird and get somewhere safe, I'm not sure how much longer this will go on."

Kazuma looked at the downed Hollow as he approached it. "So, ready to give in yet, Hollow?"

Shrieker chuckled in response. **"Even one such as yourself will fall, Soul Reaper."**

Kazuma raised an eyebrow as more of Shrieker's creatures jumped down from above.

Celsius raised a hand and multiple blades of ice fired up and split the creatures into pieces. As that happened, more of the purple leeches fell to the ground around Kazuma and the two Spirits.

Shrieker chuckled mockingly. **"You may have killed my ammunition, but those are still _very_ live!"** Shrieker stuck out his tongue and vibrated it, causing the leeches to explode viciously.

"Was that supposed to hurt?"

Shrieker froze momentarily as the smoke cleared with Kazuma bursting from within it. **"Wha-?!"**

His sentence was ended prematurely as Kazuma shoved his hand through Shrieker's teeth and into his mouth. "Why don't you use that fancy tongue of yours now?"

**"Heh, you asked for it."** Shrieker then cracked his mouth open and flicked his tongue, Kazuma immediately jumping back as a vicious, acidic explosion went off in Shrieker's mouth. **"Gaaahhh! You bastard!"**

Kazuma looked at the Hollow plainly. "How does it feel, you freak?"

Shrieker merely grunted angrily.

Kazuma turned to Celsius and nodded.

Celsius nodded in return and waved her arm, encasing everything but Shrieker's head in ice.

**"Hey! What are you doing to me?!"**

"Interrogation. There's something that's been bugging me, and I was hoping you could shed some light on the situation."

**"And why would I tell you anything?"**

"I'm just curious." Kazuma's eyes then shifted from normal to his Sharingan. "Now, I'd like you to answer my question."

**"I've got nothing to tell to some Soul Reaper like you."**

"Tell me, are you the one who killed Yuichi's parents?"

Shrieker stopped for a moment and blinked curiously. He then grinned darkly. **"So…_that's_ what you wanted to know. It's quite a tale actually, my life as a human."**

Kazuma raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean?"

**"Simple, when I was alive, I was famous, and prolific. A serial killer. I so loved tearing my victims apart. Unfortunately, that pipsqueak's mother was my last victim. But she was so much fun, running and fleeing from me, trying to protect that little brat with all she was worth. But then, I cornered her on a veranda, she had nowhere left to go, the chase was over. Which was probably good as she was running out of blood."**

Kazuma narrowed his eyes in disgust as he listened to the vile creature.

**"However, before I could make that final, satisfying cut, I died a stupid death. That little shit pulled on my shoelaces, sending me falling to my death. Ohh I was so mad. So, after gaining my new and improved form, I decided to punish the little brat. I ripped his soul out of his body and put it into that bird. Then I gave him a little challenge. If he could run from me like that for three months, I'd bwing his so important mother back to life."** Shrieker then glanced over at Yuichi and laughed hysterically. ** "But that was almost four years ago, and that stupid punk has kept on running. Which was so fun, and the little idiot is hopeless as well, there's no way I or anyone else can revive the dead. Once you're gone you're gone. But, there's one part of the birdie's punishment that fills me with such joy. I get to kill all of the humans who try foolishly to protect that little fool. And, of course, he'd whine and moan about being tired or scared or any other assortment of crap. So I'd remind him of his 'reward' at the end of our little game, the revival of his mother. So he'd get all nice and happy again."**

Kazuma clenched his fists after hearing Shrieker's answer, trembling angrily. "You…you are the truest description of a monster."

Shrieker merely smirked. **"Why thank you."**

"And now it's time for you to vanish for good."

**"Huh?"**

Kazuma reached out a hand and took his blade from his back and pointed it at the Hollow. He then raised his sword in the air, glowering at the beast. "Die." He then slashed straight down the middle of the Hollow's face. However, he raised an eyebrow since the Hollow didn't dissolve. Instead, Celsius' ice shattered off the creature as there was a sudden crack in the ground as a massive object began to rise up out of the earth. When Kazuma saw it his eyes widened in shock.

Two massive, azure doors featuring the upper torsos of two large, humanoid skeletons with bandaged skulls, each holding a hand over the inside edges of the doors, the entire structure covered in chains.

Kazuma watched in bewildered awe as the chains broke from the structure one by one.

Erza saw his expression and began to explain, "Those are the gates of Hell. A Zanpakuto can only do away with the crimes a person has committed as a Hollow. However, it cannot wash away the sins of a human. So when a soul that has committed sins dies they-"

"I already know!" Kazuma snapped, surprising and confusing Erza. He looked at her apologetically and continued with a sigh, "I already know about them…"

The two large doors immediately swung open and a powerful wind began sucking Shrieker inside the gates.

**"N-nooo!"** he protested angrily.

As the barren landscape inside became visible for a few short moments, Kazuma mumbled sadly, "…Niffleheim…"

Moments later the Hollow was sucked inside and the doors slammed shut.

"…Ah…" Kazuma blurted out, unconsciously raising a hand to the closing doors before it cracked and shattered into pieces. Kazuma lurched back some as it did before sighing.

Mavis, who was still controlling Kazuma's body, and Kuroka then approached the two.

Kazuma turned to Mavis and nodded, Mavis then jumped out of Kazuma's body as he took it back over.

"So, how was your first experience seeing the Gates of Hell?" Erza asked.

Kuroka looked at Kazuma, who shook his head, and then just smirked.

Kazuma said plainly, "Let's just say it was interesting."

Erza nodded and was about to ask another question when the group noticed Sado, still holding Yuichi's cage, standing nearby looking rather puzzled.

Erza then looked at Yuichi and frowned. "Well, I suppose we should help him, don't you think?"

Kazuma nodded in agreement as he and Erza walked over to Sado. "Chad, go ahead put the bird, er, Yuichi, down."

Sado paused for a moment before nodding and putting down Yuichi's cage.

Erza knelt down to Yuichi and waved a hand over him, a moment later his soul was pulled from his body to beside the cage.

Although Sado was unable to see it.

Erza noticed his confused expression and explained, "I just pulled Yuichi's soul from that bird."

Sado nodded in understanding.

Kazuma asked, "So what's the verdict?"

Erza looked at Yuichi quizzically and then sighed. "Unfortunately his Chain of Fate has been severed. It's impossible for him to return to his body."

Yuichi frowned sadly as he heard the words. He then looked at Erza and Kazuma. "So…what will happen now?"

Kazuma looked to Erza who then nodded. She then answered, "Well, you'll go to a place called the Soul Society."

Yuichi frowned again as tears welled up in his eyes.

Kazuma then remarked, "Hey, you shouldn't cry. You should be happy."

This time both Erza and Yuichi looked at him puzzled.

"From what I understand, the Soul Society is where people go when they die. So you know who else is there…?"

Yuichi thought for a moment before he beamed. "Mommy!"

Kazuma just smirked in response. "Yup. Not sure if you'll be able to find her, but I can guarantee you she's there. Oh, and if you can't, just find a big guy with a big bushy beard, he'll help you."

Erza raised an eyebrow in response but then smiled warmly before turning to Yuichi. "He's right, despite the…roughness of his words."

Yuichi nodded with happiness before turning to Sado. "Thanks mister, for helping me. You carried me around while you were running away, and so I didn't get hurt. Thank you."

Sado nodded in response. "It was nothing. And if I go to the Soul Society too some day, I'd like to carry you around again."

Yuichi nodded with a smile.

Kazuma reached out his hand to Mavis who snickered and took over his body while Kazuma performed the Soul Burial with his Zanpakuto, Yuichi passing on to the Soul Society.

* * *

After that, Kazuma used his Mangekyo Sharingan to alter Sado's memories, apologizing for needing to do so, before he and Erza returned home.

However, as they made their way to the apartment, Erza suddenly asked in the silence, "So, do you plan to explain?"

Kazuma looked at her curiously. "Explain what?"

"Those familiars you summoned earlier, what were they, Celsius and Volt?"

Kazuma raised an eyebrow in response. "Celsius and Volt aren't familiars, they're Summon Spirits. Two of the Great Spirits actually."

Erza raised an eyebrow in thought. "Great Spirits? You must be joking."

Kazuma frowned in annoyance. "You think I'd joke about something like that? I guarantee you, you could ask Maxwell herself and get the same answer."

Erza stopped suddenly with a very puzzled look.

Kazuma blinked curiously at her and asked, "Erm, Erza, you feelin' alright?"

"Herself? Maxwell's not a woman."

Kazuma looked at her and then raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever met Maxwell?"

"No, I have not. Though last time I checked Maxwell is most certainly a man. And besides…even if Maxwell was a woman, how would you know? And more to the point, how do you even know of Maxwell's existence? For a supposedly normal human, you seem to know quite a lot about the supernatural."

Kazuma raised an eyebrow and then began mentally kicking himself in the head. "Ah…well…that's a long story…" Kazuma noticed Erza's stern expression and sighed. "Alright, alright, fine. Just wait until we get back to the apartment, I'll explain it all then, that good?"

Erza nodded and grabbed Kazuma's wrist.

Kazuma looked at her with a wry smile.

Erza frowned in response. "Don't get the wrong idea. I know that with the Mangekyo Sharingan you have access to Kamui. As long as we're in physical contact like this you can't get away."

Kazuma could only sigh in exasperation.

"She's got you read," Mavis remarked.

"Damn…"

* * *

Kazuma, Erza, Mavis, and Kuroka arrived back at the apartment shortly thereafter and Erza sat at the dining room table, looking at Kazuma sternly.

Kazuma sighed and put his coat on a hook and sat down with an annoyed huff.

"Don't worry about me prying, I'm only making sure you're not a threat to the Soul Society," Erza encouraged.

Kazuma rested a cheek on his hand and responded annoyed, "I feel so blessed. Something tells me you won't be so forgiving after I finish."

"There's only one way to find out."

Kazuma sighed heavily and began, "Well, I guess the first part is that 'Kazuma Soryu' isn't my real name."

"Then what is?" Erza asked.

Kuroka was about to answer happily but Kazuma sent her a stern scowl, causing her to curl up some, resting cat ears against her head.

Kazuma looked back at Erza and answered, "My real name is Abraxas Bael."

Erza raised an eyebrow in response. "Abraxas Bael? That name sounds…familiar…"

"I would imagine, after all, one doesn't beat Kenpachi Yachiru and not get a reputation."

Erza's eyes widened in response to that. "You…defeated Captain Unohana…?"

"Unohana?" Kazuma asked curiously. "Is that her new name?"

Erza nodded slowly. "Yes…Retsu Unohana. So…that would mean you-?"

Kazuma raised a hand and remarked, "I'll tell you everything, just let me start at the beginning, you'll have all your questions answered after I'm done."

Erza nodded in slight confusion but accepted.

"Abraxas Bael is the name I was given, I had a different name when I was little but I've since forgotten what it was. I was born in Eastern Europe roughly eleven hundred years ago, and live relatively normally for the time until I was six. Then one day humongous, humanoid monsters appeared almost all over Europe and started tearing the place apart, my hometown being amongst their targets. My older brother, the first wielder of Divine Dividing, managed to push them back so that I and a friend could escape. Unfortunately the time he gave us didn't last long when those things caught up to us."

Erza frowned in thought and asked, "Those things…they were the Nephilim…weren't they?"

Kazuma nodded in agreement. "Yeah, they were. And they had managed to catch us, and my friend, Chiaki, was almost eaten by one of them, but I managed to kill it."

"K-kill it? Weren't you just a child?"

"I was, but I wasn't a powerless child." Kazuma then stood up and crossed his arms over each other. "Boosted Gear!" His forearms then lit up with a bright red light before it faded and the lower portion of his forearms were covered with metallic, red gauntlets with small yellow spikes and a green jewel on the back of each hand, however the gauntlets didn't cover his hands.

Erza's eyes widened in surprise. "That's…Boosted Gear! One of the Longinus Gears…"

Kazuma nodded in response as he looked at his hands, "Yes. It is. I managed to fire a Dragon Shot, even as a child, and freed Chiaki from that thing. However, it wasn't enough as the beast regenerated. Right before we were both killed, however, we were rescued, heh, 'rescued', by Lilith Lucifuge."

"Lilith Lucifuge…that was the name of the original Lucifer's wife, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, she stopped those things from killing us and brought us to the Underworld, Niffleheim, where Forbesii Lucifer offered us a chance at revenge."

"Revenge?" Erza asked.

Kazuma sighed in annoyance. "You ask a lot of questions, don't you? Yes, he told both Chiaki and I that those things, those Titans, were created by Eustoma and His angels, and that He commanded them. So if we worked for Forbesii he would give us powers to go against Eustoma."

Erza frowned in confusion.

"What now?"

"Those names you're using…Forbesii…Eustoma, I don't know them."

"I'm not surprised. Forbesii Lucifer and Eustoma, those were the real names of the original Lucifer and the Biblical God, I'm not surprised that their true names have gone by the wayside."

"You seem to have actually known them."

Kazuma shook his head in response. "I only knew Forbesii, he raised and trained both Chiaki and I, made us into the very first half-devils. For nearly 100 years we were trained by him in how to use our powers and abilities, before he sent us on the final tests of our skills. I don't exactly know what Chiaki's test was, but my own was to conquer the Tower of Amala."

"Tower of Amala? I thought it was just a relic," Erza remarked.

"Well, _now_ it is. Before it was home to the Nine Fiends, nine incredibly powerful beasts who guarded the entrance to Amala, where access to the Magutsushi was. My task was go in and defeat the Nine Fiends."

"Did you?" Erza asked.

"Yes. I did not only that but I killed them all, leaving Amala unattended."

"That's…unbelievable. Even I knew about the Nine Fiends, they were monsters created by Hades, correct?"

"Yeah, needless to say, bonehead wasn't too happy about me killing them. Chiaki also completed her task, and we both returned to Forbesii's castle. He decided we had both proved ourselves as his most powerful servants, so he gave us each our first real missions."

Erza nodded as she thought over what Kazuma told her. "So what was yours?"

"Forbesii had spent a few thousand years unable to sense a portion of a different realm, Vanaheim. So he sent me there to find the source of this disturbance that kept him unable to see into it. So I was sent into the distortion itself."

"Vanaheim?"

"You can't be telling me someone like you doesn't know of the Nine Realms."

Erza frowned in annoyance.

Kazuma sighed and explained, "Midgard, Asgard, Vanaheim, Niffleheim, Muspelheim, Jotunheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, and Nidavellir. They along with the Realm Below, Hel, and Valhalla form the Realms of our world. Now, think you can focus?"

Erza narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're the one who wanted to know," Kazuma remarked plainly. "As I said, there was a section of Vanaheim that Forbesii had been unable to see, even with long-range, observation magic, so he sent me to investigate. I was sent into the distortion itself, unfortunately something had happened and my body was affected, I was physically reduced in age, to a six year old. I spent several years there, mainly waiting for my age to reset, and got involved with a number of events in that world. Eventually I discovered the source of the distortion. The Schism. A barrier that had been placed around a large chunk of Vanaheim which had been ripped from the main section of the planet two thousand years earlier. I worked with a group of people to bring it down, though the reasons I gave were slightly different from my true reasons. Although…I eventually discovered a new personal reason to get rid of that Schism."

Erza titled her head in confusion as he spoke, a small smile forming on his face.

"Milla. Although at first our goals and reasons were different, we both eventually came to the decision that it was for the good of all of Vanaheim for the Schism to go. It wasn't easy but eventually we took down the Schism, though as a result the Lord of Spirits Maxwell died, so Milla took that post instead."

Erza raised an eyebrow. "This woman became the new Maxwell? That seems…unlikely, and very bizarre."

"Well, that's how I felt at first as well when she told me she _was_ Maxwell. Turns out Maxwell had simply infused her with his power and had four of the Great Spirits, Efreet, Sylph, Undine, and Gnome, serve her and help her complete her "goal" of destroying technology called Spyrix. Unfortunately it turned out that her real purpose was to draw out an organization called Exodus, to act as bait so Maxwell could destroy them. It eventually resulted in her death. She was able to come back with a new body soon however, and we eventually stopped Exodus, destroyed the Schism, and Milla took over the role as Maxwell."

Erza pinched the bridge of her nose in confusion. "So…you're saying you personally met the current Maxwell?"

Kazuma chuckled and smiled weakly. "Yeah…you could say that."

Erza twitched an eyebrow. "You didn't…"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Erza just sighed and asked, "So what happened after that?"

Kazuma nodded and continued. "After returning from Vanaheim, things didn't exactly go well. I found out Chiaki had died while I was in Vanaheim and Forbesii had deigned not to tell me. I was angry at him, but he explained in a way that I was foolish enough to accept. After that he sent me to deal with someone who was giving him trouble, Ahriman."

Erza put a hand to her chin in thought. "Ahriman…? That name sounds oddly familiar as well."

"He was an Old God, he was also one that was giving Forbesii quite a high amount of annoyance. So Forbesii sent me to deal with him."

"You must be joking. Old Gods have insane levels of power. The only ones I know of are Indra and Odin, and they're both on levels of power beyond even Captain Yamamoto."

"Well, Ahriman wasn't quite on the same level as those two, but he was certainly an Old God. And I _did_ defeat him, and was prepared to kill him. However he made me an offer, in return for his life, he'd serve me as a familiar."

Erza and Kuroka's jaws almost hit the floor.

"You had an Old God as a familiar, nya?" Kuroka asked.

Kazuma nodded. "For a time. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find him. But, as I was saying, after dealing with Ahriman, I was sent to Olympus. Turns out Forbesii was hoping to get some help against Eustoma from the Greek Gods. That didn't go well and I yet again got myself involved with an insane plot. One of the other gods, Prometheus, was trying to resurrect Titan Typhon so he could take down Zeus. Fortunately, with the help of a small group of people, I was able to put a stop to Prometheus' plans. Of course, the resulting conflicts from trying to stop him did quite a bit of damage to Greece's landscape. But, it was also after that last mission, that I discovered the truth behind all of Forbesii's lies."

Kuroka blinked and asked curiously, "Lies like what, nya?"

"For starters, I found out that the Titans weren't created by Eustoma, and that the attack on my village wasn't orchestrated by Him either. I found out that the Titans were freaks of nature created by unions between humans and fallen angels. How they ended up becoming monsters like that I never truly understood. But I did discover that Forbesii was involved, and that he also lured and directed those Titans that attacked my village that day. And Lilith's seemingly perfect timing was perfect because she had been there the whole time, waiting for the most opportune moment. I discovered the truth behind the rest of it as well, the reason Forbesii had taken me in was so he could turn me into a weapon, direct my growth and power so I could be his ultimate trump card against Eustoma. Chiaki was merely an additive so he'd have more leverage against me. Getting rid of the Nine Fiends wasn't a test either, it was so he could gain access to the infinite pools of Magutsushi and be able to obtain and maintain immortality by living off of it. The mission to Vanaheim he had also discovered the truth about, he simply wanted to be able to gain access to all the people there who could use magic since there were very few humans on Midgard and almost none on the mainland of Vanaheim who could. And even the mission to Olympus was set up. Prometheus' plans were actually started and set up by Forbesii himself, but when Prometheus announced his plans to use Typhon against Forbesii he sent me to stop Prometheus."

Kuroka and Erza frowned as they listened.

"That must have been crappy, nya."

Kazuma looked at Kuroka flatly. "You don't say…"

Kuroka frowned pathetically and flattened her cat ears against her head.

"How did you find all of this out anyway?" Erza asked.

"Lilith. She explained this all to me herself."

Erza and Kuroka's eyes widened.

"Why would she do something like that?" Erza asked in shock.

"Because, she just ended up growing tired of Forbesii's lies. There were…other reasons of course, but if you don't mind I'd rather keep those to myself."

Kuroka put a hand to her mouth and giggled in amusement. "Ufufufu, dirty boy, nya."

Kazuma frowned with a light blush. He then continued. "I ended up just spending the rest of my time in Europe, soon making my way to Britain, where I met someone rather influential, and personally important. Altria Pendragon."

Kuroka blinked curiously. "Don't you mean _Arthur_ Pendragon, nya?"

"No. I've seen some of the books about King Arthur, and they've altered history. Just like Maxwell, _King Arthur_ was actually Queen Altria. She was honestly an amazing woman, who went against everything that was set at the time and took over most of Britain. Of course, she had some help."

"You, I suppose?" Erza asked blandly.

Kazuma shook his head. "No, Caliburn, one of the Holy Swords. She had found it sealed in a stone and pulled it out, using its power to take hold of Britain. Unfortunately, it seemed that the universe had conspired against her, Forbesii had tricked the two of us into fighting each other." Kazuma clenched his fists as he recounted the events.

Erza frowned as she listened. "You…loved her didn't you?"

Kazuma smiled nostalgically. "Yeah, and she reciprocated it, to the point of allowing me to run her through with my sword, Gram. She couldn't bring herself to kill me, and instead let me kill her…at that point I had simply decided to give up. I ended up going back to Europe and found my way to the Walled Cities, a city set up with a series of walls to keep out the Nephilim. My powers and abilities ended up earning me prestige and a high-ranking position in their military. I was given the title General and gifted my own squad who were independent of the normal rules and regulations, given special permission and rights to deal with the Nephilim, the Death Dealers. Eventually I discovered a girl named Mikasa Ackerman, she turned out to be my brother's successor, gaining Divine Dividing after him, and so I added her and several others to the Death Dealers, dealing with the Nephilim in our own way. Over time the truth about the Nephilim was fully revealed when we encountered a specific one. Again, I dropped my guard and fell for Mikasa, but she too was killed by that monster. So…having grown tired of it all, I ended up blaming pretty much everyone for my living hell. Blaming Forbesii for getting me in that situation to begin with. Blaming Eustoma for taking Altria away from me. Blaming the angels and fallen angels for the existence of the Nephilim and Mikasa's death. I surged my powers and committed genocide, in less than a day I completely wiped out the Nephilim, not leaving a single one alive. Then, I moved on to the Midgard base of the angels, Atlantis, and destroyed it, submerging it after taking Ahriman and a few others I had gathered on my journeys to bring it down. Then, I made my way to the realm where Izanagi lived, and demanded access to the world where the souls of the dead go when they die, the same place he had gone when Izanami had died. He refused. So I killed him. After that, Forbesii had decided I'd become too large a threat so lured me, in my enraged and unthinking state, back to the Island of Amala and sealed me, Ahriman and several others inside the Tower of Amala, placing a seal that was supposed to last forever. However, the seal ended up breaking after a thousand years, and I awoke from the seal just under three years ago."

Erza listened as did Kuroka.

Kuroka then snickered. "You know, I had already known some of your story, nya. But I didn't know it was quite that extensive, nya."

Kazuma nodded and looked at Erza.

"It's quite an unbelievable story honestly. Though, I've seen enough that doubting you entirely would be foolish. So, Abraxas is your name then?"

Kazuma narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "No, Abraxas is who I was. Kazuma is who I am."

* * *

**Alright then, that finishes this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it and I'd like to hear your opinions in reviews, especially if you liked the story.  
**


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